Foundations of the Republic

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FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

I-'iioii in/ I'tclihig by D. C. Stltrgt

FOUNDATIONS
OF THE REPUBLIC

SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES

BY

CALVIN COOLIDGE

Essay Index Reprint Series

1

BOOKS FOR LIBRARIES PRESS
FREEPORT, NEW YORK

First Published 1926
Reprinted 1968

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER:

68-8450

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. Proclamation upon the Death of Wood-
row Wilson, February 3, 1924 ... 3

II. The Democracy of Sports 7

III. The United Nation 15

IV. Freedom and Its Obligations 19

V. The Progress of a People . . . . . 31

VI. Economy in the Interest of All ... 39

VII. Education: The Cornerstone of Self-Gov-

ernment 51

VIII. What It Means to Be a Boy Scout . . 67

IX. Equality of Rights 71

X. The High Place of Labor 75

XI. Ordered Liberty and World Peace . . 89

XII. Authority and Religious Liberty . . . 103

XIII. A Free Republic 115

XIV. Good Sportsmanship 129

XV. Patriotism in Time of Peace .... 135

XVI. Religion and the Republic ..... 149

XVII. The Genius of America 159

XVIII. Discriminating Benevolence . . . . . 169

XIX. The Duties of Citizenship 175

XX. The Press Under a Free Government . 183

v

VI

CONTENTS

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

PAGE

Inaugural Address, March 4, 1925 . 193

The Spiritual Unification of America 209

The Reign of Law 221

The Navy as an Instrument of Peace 237

Contribution of the Norsemen to

America 247

Washington 265

Toleration and Liberalism .

Jose De San Martin, Latin-American
Liberator

Government and Business
The Farmer and the Nation
Constructive Economy .
Journalism in the New World
The New Responsibilities of Women
Training Youth for Character .
States Rights and National Unity

John Ericsson

Ways to Peace

The Inspiration of the Declaration

287

305
317
335
355
365
377
389
401
415
429
441

Index

457

He gave utterance to the aspiration of humanity
with an eloquence which held the attention of
all the earth and made America a new and
enlarged influence in the destiny of mankind.

PROCLAMATION UPON THE DEATH OF WOODROW
WILSON, FEBRUARY 3, 1924

To the People of the United States:

The death of Woodrow Wilson, President of the United
States from March 4, 1913, to March 4, 1921, which
occurred at 11:15 o'clock today at his home at Washing-
ton, District of Columbia, deprives the country of a most
distinguished citizen, and is an event which causes uni-
versal and genuine sorrow. To many of us it brings the
sense of a profound personal bereavement.

His early profession as a lawyer was abandoned to enter
academic life. In this chosen field he attained the highest
rank as an educator, and has left his impress upon the in-
tellectual thought of the country. From the Presidency of
Princeton University he was called by his fellow citizens
to be the Chief Executive of the State of New Jersey. The
duties of this high office he so conducted as to win the
confidence of the people of the United States, who twice
elected him to the Chief Magistracy of the Republic. As
President of the United States he was moved by an earnest
desire to promote the best interests of the country as he
conceived them. His acts were prompted by high motives
and his sincerity of purpose can not be questioned. He
led the nation through the terrific struggle of the world
war with a lofty idealism which never failed him. He
gave utterance to the aspiration of humanity with an
eloquence which held the attention of all the earth and
made America a new and enlarged influence in the destiny
of mankind.

In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held

3

4 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

by the Government and people of the United States, I do
hereby direct that the flags of the White House and of the
several Departmental buildings be displayed at half staff for
a period of thirty days, and that suitable military and naval
honors under orders of the Secretary of War and of the
Secretary of the Navy may be rendered on the day of the
funeral.

■ MM

II

In the case of a people which represents many
nations, cultures and races, as does our own, a
unification of interests and ideals in recreations
is bound to wield a telling influence for solidarity
of the entire population. No more truly demo-
cratic force can be set off against the tendency
to class and caste than the democracy of in-
dividual parts and prowess in sport.

THE DEMOCRACY OF SPORTS

This conference has been called to encourage Americans
to make more of their opportunities and appropriate more
of the advantages of America. For a long time one of the
ideals of perfection has been that of a sound mind in a
sound body. When most of our original educational insti-
tutions were founded, they at first served a race of pioneers.
They were attended by those whose very existence depended
on an active outdoor life in the open country. The most
universal custom among all the people was bodily exercise.
Those days long ago passed away for most of the people
of this country.

There is still and must ever be a tremendous amount of
manual labor, but to a large extent this has become spe-
cialized and too often would be designated correctly as
drudgery. The opportunity for education of the mind, how-
ever, has greatly increased until it has become well-nigh
universal. School and college athletics have become neces-
sary. With the development of our industrial and com-
mercial life, there are more and more those who are engaged
in purely clerical activities. All of this makes it more neces-
sary than ever that we should stimulate every possible
interest in out of door health-giving recreation.

I am hopeful that the conference can coordinate our
national resources and opportunities in a way better to
serve this purpose. It is by no means intended that there
should be any suggestion of Federal domination in these
activities. Necessarily they are largely local and individual,
and to be helpful they must always be spontaneous. But

At the National Conference on Outdoor Recreation, Washington, D. C,
May 22, 1924. -

7

8 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

this conference can be of great aid by making something
of an inventory of our national resources and opportunities
and determining how these may best be put to the most
desirable use, and, further, by exchanging ideas, create new
interests and open to view new fields.

Nearly every city is making large appropriations for lay-
ing out spacious parks and playgrounds. These are pro-
viding recreation fields for the playing of outdoor games
by both old and young. Golf courses and tennis courts
abound. Too much emphasis can not be placed on the
effort to get the children out of the alleys and off the streets
into spacious open places where there is good sunlight
and plenty of fresh air. Such an opportunity has both a
physical and mental effect. It restores the natural balance
of life and nourishes the moral fiber of youth.

Another activity which is being encouraged is that of
gardening. This is necessarily somewhat limited, but the
opportunity for engaging in it has never been anywhere near
exhausted. It makes its appeal alike to youth and age.
It is extremely practical on the one hand, and lends itself
to the artistic on the other.

A form of recreation not so accesible to many as games,
but one which has in it a peculiar hold on that which is
elemental in human nature, is hunting and fishing. These
are true outdoor sports in the highest sense, and must be
pursued in a way that develops energy, perseverance, skill,
and courage of the individual. They call for personal direc-
tion, and can not be taken up vicariously. There is a great
wealth of life and experience in this field which is never
exhausted, and always fresh and new. It is accompanied by
traits of character which make a universal appeal. A
knowledge of these arts may well be cultivated and cherished
like a knowledge of the humanities and the sciences.
Around hunting and fishing is gathered a great wealth of
prose and poetry, which testifies to the enduring interest

THE DEMOCRACY OF SPORTS 9

which these sports have held all through the development
of the race.

A certain type of outdoor activity has been much de-
veloped in recent years and calls great throngs together,
which may properly be designated as exhibition games.
Under this head comes first in importance baseball, which is
often known as the national game. Football and polo
come in the same class. These activities require such long
and intensive training that participation in them is neces-
sarily confined to a class and can not be said to be open to
the general public. But for creating an interest which
extends to every age and every class, for giving an oppor-
tunity for a few hours in the open air which will provide
a change of scene, a new trend of thought, and the arousing
of new enthusiasm for the great multitude of our people,
these have no superior.

But it is unnecessary for me to do more than mention a
few of the representative forms of recreation. We all know
that their name is legion, and that different tastes require
different activities. I am not trying to recommend one
above another, but I am trying to point out the national
value which would accrue if there were an organized, in-
structed, and persistent effort to bring these benefits to the
people at large. It can not be that our country is making
a great outlay for playgrounds in our schools, for athletic
fields in our colleges, for baseball fields in our cities, for
recreation parks in our metropolitan districts, for State and
national forest reservations, unless these all represent an
opportunity for a real betterment of the life of the people.
These are typically American in all their aspects. They
minister directly to the welfare of all our inhabitants.

Civilization is measured in no small part by these
standards. The famous beauty and symmetry of the Greek
race in its prime was due in no small part to their general
participation in athletic games. This meant development.

10 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

We can see in the gladiatorial shows of Rome, which de-
generated into the butchery alike of beasts and men, the
sure sign of moral decay which ended in the destruction of
the empire and the breaking up of the great influence it
had cast over the world. It is altogether necessary that we
keep our own amusements and recreations within that field
which will be prophetic, not of destruction, but of develop-
ment. It is characteristic of almost the entire American life
that it has a most worthy regard for clean and manly sports.
It has little appetite for that which is unwholesome or
brutal.

We have at hand these great resources and great oppor-
tunities. They can not be utilized to their fullest extent
without careful organization and methodical purpose. Our
youth need instruction in how to play as much as they do
in how to work. There are those who are engaged in our
industries who need an opportunity for outdoor life and
recreation no less than they need opportunity of employ-
ment. Side by side with the industrial plant should be the
gymnasium and the athletic field. Along with the learning
of a trade by which a livelihood is to be earned should go
the learning of how to participate in the activities of recrea-
tion, by which life is made not only more enjoyable, but
more rounded out and complete. The country needs in-
struction in order that we may better secure these results.

A special consideration suggests the value of a develop-
ment of national interest in recreation and sports. There
is no better common denominator of a people. In the case
of a people which represents many nations, cultures and
races, as does our own, a unification of interests and ideals
in recreations is bound to wield a telling influence for
solidarity of the entire population. No more truly demo-
cratic force can be set off against the tendency to class and
caste than the democracy of individual parts and prowess
in sport.

THE DEMOCRACY OF SPORTS 11

Out of this conference I trust there may come a better
appreciation of the necessary development of our life along
these directions. They should be made to contribute to
health, to broader appreciation of nature and her works, to
a truer insight into the whole affair of existence. They
should be the means to acquainting all of us with the won-
ders and delights of this world in which we live, and of this
country of which we are the joint inheritors. Through them
we may teach our children true sportsmanship, right living,
the love of being square, the sincere purpose to make our
lives genuinely useful and helpful to our fellows. All of
these may be implanted through a wise use of recreational
opportunities.

I want to see all Americans have a reasonable amount of
leisure. Then I want to see them educated to use such
leisure for their own enjoyment and betterment, and the
strengthening of the quality of their citizenship. We can
go a long way in that direction by getting them out of
doors and really interested in nature. We can make still
further progress by engaging them in games and sports.
Our country is a land of cultured men and women. It is a
land of agriculture, of industries, of schools, and of places
of religious worship. It is a land of varied climes and
scenery, of mountain and plain, of lake and river. It is the
American heritage. We must make it a land of vision, a
land of work, of sincere striving for the good, but we must
add to all these, in order to round out the full stature
of the people, an ample effort to make it a land of whole-
some enjoyment and perennial gladness.

Ill

A mightier force than ever followed Grant or
Lee has leveled both their hosts, raised up an
united Nation, and made us all partakers of a
new glory. It is not for us to forget the past but
to remember it, that we may profit by it. But
it is gone; we can not change it. We must put
our emphasis on the present and put into effect
the lessons the past has taught us.

THE UNITED NATION.

If I am correctly informed by history, it is fitting that the
Sabbath should be your Memorial Day. This follows from
the belief that except for the forces of Oliver Cromwell
no army was ever more thoroughly religious than that which
followed General Lee. Moreover, these ceremonies neces-
sarily are expressive of a hope and a belief that rise above
the things of this life. It was Lincoln who pointed out that
both sides prayed to the same God. When that is the case,
it is only a matter of time when each will seek a common
end. We can now see clearly what that end is. It is the
maintenance of our American form of government, of our
American institutions, of our American ideals, beneath a
common flag, under the blessings of Almighty God.

It was for this purpose that our Nation was brought forth.
Our whole course of history has been proceeding in that
direction. Out of a common experience, made more endur-
ing by a common sacrifice, we have reached a common con-
viction. On this day we pause in memory of those who
made their sacrifice in one way. In a few days we shall
pause again in memory of those who made their sacrifice in
another way. They were all Americans, all contending for
what they believed were their rights. On many a battle-
field they sleep side by side. Here, in a place set aside for
the resting place of those who have performed military duty,
both make a final bivouac. But their country lives.

The bitterness of conflict is passed. Time has softened it;
discretion has changed it. Your country respects you for
cherishing the memory of those who wore the gray. You
respect others who cherish the memory of those who wore

15

16 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the blue. In that mutual respect may there be a firmer
friendship, a stronger and more glorious Union.

When I delivered the address dedicating the great monu-
ment to General Grant in the city of Washington, General
Carr was present, with others of his comrades, and re-
sponded for the Confederacy with a most appropriate
tribute. He has lately passed away, one of the last of a
talented and gallant corps of officers. To the memory of
him whom I had seen and heard and knew as the represen-
tative of that now silent throng, whom I did not know, I
offer my tribute. We know that Providence would have it
so. We see and we obey. A mightier force than ever
followed Grant or Lee has leveled both their hosts, raised
up an united Nation, and made us all partakers of a new
glory. It is not for us to forget the past but to remember
it, that we may profit by it. But it is gone; we cannot
change it. We must put our emphasis on the present and
put into effect the lessons the past has taught us. All
about us sleep those of many different beliefs and many
divergent actions. But America claims them all. Her flag
floats over them all. Her Government protects them all.
They all rest in the same divine peace.

At the Confederate Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia,
Sunday, May 25, 1924.

IV

American citizenship is a high estate. He who
holds it is the peer of kings. It has been secured
only by untold toil and effort. It will be main-
tained by no other method. It demands the best
that men and women have to give. But it like-
wise awards to its partakers the best that there
is on earth. To attempt to turn it into a thing
of ease and inaction would be only to debase it.
To cease to struggle and toil and sacrifice for it
is not only to cease to be worthy of it but is to
start a retreat toward barbarism. No matter
what others may say, no matter what others may
do, this is the stand that those must maintain
who are worthy to be called Americans,

FREEDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS.

We meet again upon this hallowed ground to commemo-
rate those who played their part in a particular outbreak of
an age-old conflict. Many men have many theories about
the struggle that went on from 1861 to 1865. Some say it
had for its purpose the abolition of slavery. President
Lincoln did not so consider it. There were those in the
South who would have been willing to wage war for its
continuation, but I very much doubt if the South as a whole
could have been persuaded to take up arms for that pur-
pose. There were those in the North who would have been
willing to wage war for its abolition, but the North as a
whole could not have been persuaded to take up arms for
that purpose. President Lincoln made it perfectly clear
that his effort was to save the Union — with slavery if he
could save it that way; without slavery if he could save it
that way. But he would save the Union. The South stood
for the principle of the sovereignty of the States. The
North stood for the principle of the supremacy of the
Union.

This was an age-old conflict. At its foundation lies the
question of how can the Government govern and the people
be free? How can organized society make and enforce laws
and the individual remain independent? There is no short
sighted answer to these inquiries. Whatever may have
been the ambiguity in the Federal Constitution, of course
the Union had to be supreme within its sphere or cease to
be a Union. It was also certain and obvious that each State
had to be sovereign within its sphere or cease to be a State.

At Arlington National Cemetery, May 30, 1924.

19

20 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

It is equally clear that a government must govern, must
prescribe and enforce laws within its sphere or cease to be
a government. Moreover, the individual must be indepen-
dent and free within his own sphere or cease to be an in-
dividual. The fundamental question was then, is now, and
always will be through what adjustments, by what actions,
these principles may be applied.

It needs but very little consideration to reach the con-
clusion that all of these terms are relative, not absolute, in
their application to the affairs of this earth. There is no
absolute and complete sovereignty for a State, nor absolute
and complete independence and freedom for an individual.
It happened in 1861 that the States of the North and the
South were so fully agreed among themselves that they
were able to combine against each other. But supposing
each State of the Union should undertake to make its own
decisions upon all questions, and that all held divergent
views. If such a condition were carried to its logical con-
clusion, each would come into conflict with all the others,
and a condition would arise which could only result in
mutual destruction. It is evident that this would be the
antithesis of State sovereignty. Or suppose that each in-
dividual in the assertion of his own independence and free-
dom undertook to act in entire disregard of the rights of
others. The end would be likewise mutual destruction, and
no one would be independent and no one would be free.
Yet these are conflicts which have gone on ever since the
organization of society into government, and they are going
on now. To my mind this was fundamental of the conflict
which broke out in 1861.

The thirteen Colonies were not unaware of the difficulties
which these problems presented. We shall find a great deal
of wisdom in the method by which they dealt with them.
When they were finally separated from Great Britain, the
allegiance of their citizens was not to the Nation, for there

FREEDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS 21

was none. It was to the States. For the conduct of the
war there had been a voluntary confederacy loosely con-
structed and practically impotent. Continuing after peace
was made, when the common peril which had been its chief
motive no longer existed, it grew weaker and weaker. Each
of the States could have insisted on an entirely separate and
independent existence, having full authority over both their
internal and external affairs, sovereign in every way. But
such sovereignty would have been a vain and empty thing.
It would have been unsupported by adequate resources
either of property or population, without a real national
spirit; ready to fall prey to foreign intrigue or foreign con-
quest. That kind of sovereignty meant but little. It had
no substance in it. The people and their leaders naturally
sought for a larger, more inspiring ideal. They realized
that while to be a citizen of a State meant something, it
meant a great deal more if that State were a part of a
national union. The establishment of a Federal Constitu-
tion giving power and authority to create a real National
Government did not in the end mean a detriment, but
rather an increment to the sovereignty of the several States.
Under the Constitution there was brought into being a new
relationship, which did not detract from but added to the
power and the position of each State. It is true that they
surrendered the privilege of performing certain acts for
themselves, like the regulation of commerce and the main-
tenance of foreign relations, but in becoming a part of the
Union they received more than they gave.

The same thing applies to the individual in organized
society. When each citizen submits himself to the authority
of law he does not thereby decrease his independence or
freedom, but rather increases it. By recognizing that he is
a part of a larger body which is banded together for a com-
mon purpose, he becomes more than an individual, he rises
to a new dignity of citizenship. Instead of finding himself

22 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

restricted and confined by rendering obedience to public
law, he finds himself protected and defended and in the
exercise of increased and increasing rights. It is true that
as civilization becomes more complex it is necessary to sur-
render more and more of the freedom of action and live
more and more according to the rule of public regulation,
but it is also true that the rewards and the privileges which
come to a member of organized society increase in a still
greater proportion. Primitive life has its freedom and its
attraction, but the observance of the restrictions of modern
civilization enhances the privileges of living a thousandfold.

Perhaps I have said enough to indicate the great ad-
vantages that accrue to all of us by the support and main-
tenance of our Government, the continuation of the func-
tions of legislation, the administration of justice, and the
execution of the laws. There can be no substitute for these,
no securing of greater freedom by their downfall and failure,
but only disorganization, suffering and want, and final de-
struction. All that we have of rights accrue from the
Government under which we live.

In these days little need exists for extolling the blessings
of our Federal Union. Its benefits are known and recog-
nized by all its citizens who are worthy of serious attention.
No one thinks now of attempting to destroy the Union by
armed force. No one seriously considers withdrawing from
it. But it is not enough that it should be free from attack —
it must be approved and supported by a national spirit.
Our prime allegiance must be to the whole country. A
sentiment of sectionalism is not harmless because it is un-
armed. Resistance to the righteous authority of Federal
law is not innocent because it is not accompanied by seces-
sion. We need a more definite realization that all of our
country must stand or fall together, and that it is the duty
of the Government to promote the welfare of each part and

FREEDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS 23

the duty of the citizen to remember that he must be first of
all an American.

Only one conclusion appears to me possible. We shall
not promote our welfare by a narrow and shortsighted
policy. We can gain nothing by any destruction of govern-
ment or society. That action which in the long run is for
the advantage of the individual, as it is for the support of
our Union, is best summed up in a single word — renuncia-
tion. It is only by surrendering a certain amount of our
liberty, only by taking on new duties and assuming new
obligations, that we make that progress which we char-
acterize as civilization. It is only in like manner that the
citizens and the States can maintain our Federal Union and
become partakers of its glory. That is the answer to every
herald of discontent and to every preacher of destruction.
While this is understood, American institutions and the
Amercian Union are secure.

This principle can not be too definitely or emphatically
proclaimed. American citizenship is a high estate. He
who holds it is the peer of kings. It has been secured only
by untold toil and effort. It will be maintained by no
other method. It demands the best that men and women
have to give. But it likewise awards to its partakers the
best that there is on earth. To attempt to turn it into a
thing of ease and inaction would be only to debase it. To
cease to struggle and toil and sacrifice for it is not only to
cease to be worthy of it but is to start a retreat toward
barbarism. No matter what others may say, no matter
what others may do, this is the stand that those must main-
tain who are worthy to be called Americans.

But that great struggle was carried on by those whom this
day is set apart to commemorate, not only for the preserva-
tion of the Union. The authority of the Federal Govern-
ment had been resisted by armed force. They were also
striving to restore peace. It must be remembered that

24 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

our Republic was organized to avoid and discourage war, and
to promote and establish peace. It is the leading charac-
teristic of our national holidays that they are days of peace.
The ways of our people are the ways of peace. They
naturally seek ways to make peace more secure.

It is not to be inferred that it would be anything less than
courting national disaster to leave our country barren of
defense. Human nature is a very constant quality. While
there is justification for hoping and believing that we are
moving toward perfection, it would be idle and absurd to
assume that we have already reached it. We can not disre-
gard history. There have been and will be domestic dis-
orders. There have been and will be tendencies of one
nation to encroach on another. I believe in the main-
tenance of an Army and Navy, not for aggression but for
defense. Security and order are our most valuable posses-
sions. They are cheap at any price. But I am opposed to
every kind of military aggrandizement and to all forms of
competitive armament. The ideal would be for nations to
become parties to mutual covenants limiting their military
establishments, and making it obvious that they are not
maintained to menace each other. This ideal should be
made practical as fast as possible.

Our Nation has associated itself with other great powers
for the purpose of promoting peace in the regions of the
Pacific Ocean. It has steadily refused to accept the cove-
nant of the League of Nations, but long before that was
thought of, before the opening of the present century, we
were foremost in promoting the calling of a conference at
The Hague to provide for a tribunal of arbitration for the
settlement of international disputes. We have made many
treaties on that basis with other nations.

But we have an opportunity before us to reassert our de-
sire and to lend the force of our example for the peaceful
adjudication of differences between nations. Such action

FREEDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS 25

would be in entire harmony with the policy which we have
long advocated. I do not look upon it as a certain guaranty
against war, but it would be a method of disposing of
troublesome questions, an accumulation of which leads to
irritating conditions and results in mutually hostile senti-
ments. More than a year ago President Harding proposed
that the Senate should authorize our adherence to the pro-
tocol of the Permanent Court of International Justice, with
certain conditions. His suggestion has already had my ap-
proval. On that I stand. I should not oppose other reser-
vations, but any material changes which would not prob-
ably receive the consent of the many other nations would be
impracticable. We can not take a step in advance of this
kind without assuming certain obligations. Here again if
we receive anything we must surrender something. We may
as well face the question candidly, and if we are willing to
assume these new duties in exchange for the benefits which
would accrue to us, let us say so. If we are not willing, let
us say that. We can accomplish nothing by taking a
doubtful or ambiguous position. We are not going to be
able to avoid meeting the world and bearing our part of the
burdens of the world. We must meet those burdens and
overcome them or they will meet us and overcome us. For
my part I desire my country to meet them without evasion
and without fear in an upright, downright, square,
American way.

While there are those who think we would be exposed to
peril by adhering to this court, I am unable to attach great
weight to their arguments. Whatever differences, whatever
perils exist for us in the world, will come anyway, whether
we oppose or support the court. I am one of those who
believe we would be safer and that we would be meeting our
duties better by supporting it and making every possible
use of it. I feel confident that such action would make a

26 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

greater America, that it would be productive of a higher and
finer national spirit, and of a more complete national life.

It is these two thoughts of union and peace which appear
to me to be especially appropriate for our consideration on
this day. Like all else in human experience, they are not
things which can be set apart and have an independent
existence. They exist by reason of the concrete actions of
men and women. It is the men and women whose actions
between 1861 and 1865 gave us union and peace that we are
met here this day to commemorate. When we seek for the
chief characteristic of those actions, we come back to the
word which I have already uttered — renunciation. They
gave up ease and home and safety and braved every im-
pending danger and mortal peril that they might accom-
plish these ends. They thereby became in this Republic a
body of citizens set apart and marked for every honor so
long as our Nation shall endure. Here on this wooded
eminence, overlooking the Capital of the country for which
they fought, many of them repose, officers of high rank and
privates mingling in a common dust, holding the common
veneration of a grateful people. The heroes of other wars
lie with them, and in a place of great preeminence lies one
whose identity is unknown, save that he was a soldier of this
Republic who fought that its ideals, its institutions, its
liberties, might be perpetuated among men. A grateful
country holds all these services as her most priceless heri-
tage, to be cherished forevermore.

We can testify to these opinions, not by our words but
by our actions. Our country can not exist on the renuncia-
tion of the heroic souls of the past. Public service, from
the action of the humblest voter to the most exalted office,
can not be made a mere matter of hire and salary. The sup-
porters of our institutions must be inspired by a more
dominent motive than a conviction that their actions are
going to be profitable. We can not lower our standards tQ

FREEDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS 27

what we think will pay, but we must raise them to what we
think is right. It is only in that direction that we shall
find true patriotism. It is only by that method that we can
maintain the rights of the individual, the sovereignty of the
States, the integrity of the Union, the permanency of peace,
and the welfare of mankind. You soldiers of the Republic
enrolled under her banner that through your sacrifices there
might be an atonement for the evils of your day. That is
the standard of citizenship for all time. It is the require-
ment which must be met by those who hold public place.
That must be the ideal of those who are worthy to share
in the glory which you have given to the name of America,
the ideal of those who hold fellowship with Washington and
Lincoln.

The progress of the colored people on this con-
tinent is one of the marvels of modern history.
We are perhaps even yet too near to this phe-
nomenon to be able fully to appreciate its signi-
ficance. That can be impressed on us only as we
study and contrast the rapid advancement of the
colored people in America with the slow and
painful upward movement of humanity as a
whole throughout the long human story.

THE PROGRESS OF A PEOPLE

It has come to be a legend, and I believe with more
foundation of fact than most legends, that Howard Uni-
versity was the outgrowth of the inspiration of a prayer
meeting. I hope it is true, and I shall choose to believe it,
for it makes of this scene and this occasion a new testi-
mony that prayers are answered. Here has been established
a great university, a sort of educational laboratory for the
production of intellectual and spiritual leadership among a
people whose history, if you will examine it as it deserves, is
one of the striking evidences of a soundness of our civiliza-
tion.

The accomplishments of the colored people in the United
States, in the brief historic period since they were brought
here from the restrictions of their native continent, can not
but make us realize that there is something essential in our
civilization which gives it a special power. I think we shall
be able to agree that this particular element is the Christian
religion, whose influence always and everywhere has been a
force for the illumination and advancement of the peoples
who have come under its sway.

The progress of the colored people on this continent is
one of the marvels of modern history. We are perhaps even
yet too near to this phenomenon to be able fully to appre-
ciate its significance. That can be impressed on us only as
we study and contrast the rapid advancement of the colored
people in America with the slow and painful upward move-
ment of humanity as a whole throughout the long human
story.

At Howard University, June 6, 1924.

31

32 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

An occasion such as this which has brought us here can
not but direct our consideration to these things. It has
been a painful and difficult experience, this by which an-
other race has been recruited to the standard of civilization
and enlightenment; for that is really what has been going
on; and the episodes of Negro slavery in America, of civil
war, and emancipation, and, following that, the rapid ad-
vancement of the American colored people both materially
and spiritually, must be recognized as parts of a long evolu-
tion by which all mankind is gradually being led to higher
levels, expanding its understanding of its mission here, ap-
proaching nearer and nearer to the realization of its full and
perfected destiny.

In such a view of the history of the Negro race in
America, we may find the evidences that the black man's
probation on this continent was a necessary part in a great
plan by which the race was to be saved to the world for a
service which we are now able to vision and, even if yet
somewhat dimly, to appreciate. The destiny of the great
African Continent, to be added at length — and in a future
not now far beyond us — to the realms of the highest civiliza-
tion, has become apparent within a very few decades. But
for the strange and long inscrutable purpose which in the
ordering of human affairs subjected a part of the black
race to the ordeal of slavery, that race might have been
assigned to the tragic fate which has befallen many aborig-
inal peoples when brought into conflict with more advanced
communities. Instead, we are able now to be confident
that this race is to be preserved for a great and useful work.
If some of its members have suffered, if some have been
denied, if some have been sacrificed, we are able at last to
realize that their sacrifices were borne in a great cause.
They gave vicariously, that a vastly greater number might
be preserved and benefited through them. The salvation

THE PROGRESS OF A PEOPLE 33

of a race, the destiny of a continent, were bought at the
price of these sacrifices.

Howard University is but one of the many institutions
which have grown up in this country, dedicated to this
purpose of preserving one of the races of men and fitting it
for its largest usefulness. Here is a people adapted, as most
people are not, to life in the tropics. They are capable of
redeeming vast luxuriant areas of unexampled productivity,
and of reclaiming them for the sustenance of mankind and
the increasing security of the human community. It is a
great destiny, to which we may now look forward with con-
fidence that it will be fully realized.

Looking back only a few years, we appreciate how rapid
has been the progress of the colored people on this continent.
Emancipation brought them the opportunity of which they
have availed themselves. It has been calculated that in the
first year following the acceptance of their status as a free
people, there were approximately 4,000,000 members of the
race in this country, and that among these only 12,000 were
the owners of their homes; only 20,000 among them con-
ducted their own farms, and the aggregate wealth of these
4,000,000 people hardly exceeded $20,000,000. In a little
over a half century since, the number of business enterprises
operated by colored people had grown to near 50,000, while
the wealth of the Negro community has grown to more than
$1,100,000,000. And these figures convey a most inade-
quate suggestion of the material progress. The 2,000 busi-
ness enterprises which were in the hands of colored people
immediately following emancipation were almost without
exception small and rudimentary. Among the 50,000 busi-
ness operations now in the hands of colored people may be
found every type of present-day affairs. There are more
than 70 banks conducted by thoroughly competent colored
business men. More than 80 per cent of all American
Negroes are now able to read and write. When they

34 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

achieved their freedom not 10 per cent were literate. There
are nearly 2,000,000 Negro pupils in the public schools; well-
nigh 40,000 Negro teachers are listed, more than 3,000 fol-
lowing their profession in normal schools and colleges. The
list of educational institutions devoting themselves to the
race includes 50 colleges, 13 colleges for women, 26 theo-
logical schools, a standard school of law, and 2 high-grade
institutions of medicine. Through the work of these insti-
tutions the Negro race is equipping men and women from
its own ranks to provide its leadership in business, the pro-
fessions, in all relations of life.

This, of course, is the special field of usefulness for
colored men and women who find the opportunity to get
adequate education. Their own people need their help,
guidance, leadership, and inspiration. Those of you who
are fortunate enough to equip yourselves for these tasks
have a special responsibility to make the best use of great
opportunities. In a very special way it is incumbent upon
those who are prepared to help their people to maintain
the truest standards of character and unselfish purpose.
The Negro community of America has already so far pro-
gressed that its members can be assured that their future is
in their own hands. Racial hostility, ancient tradition, and
social prejudice are not to be eliminated immediately or eas-
ily But they will be lessened as the colored people by their
own efforts and under their own leaders shall prove worthy
of the fullest measure of opportunity.

The Nation has need of all that can be contributed to it
through the best efforts of all its citizens. The colored
people have repeatedly proved their devotion to the high
ideals of our country. They gave their services in the war
with the same patriotism and readiness that other citizens
did. The records of the selective draft show that somewhat
more than 2,250,000 colored men were registered. The
records further prove that, far from seeking to avoid partici-

.^

THE PROGRESS OF A PEOPLE 35

pation in the national defense, they showed that they wished
to enlist before the selective service act was put into opera-
tion, and they did not attempt to evade that act afterwards.
The propaganda of prejudice and hatred which sought to
keep the colored men from supporting the national cause
completely failed. The black man showed himself the same
kind of citizen, moved by the same kind of patriotism, as
the white man. They were tempted, but not one betrayed
his country. Among well-nigh 400,000 colored men who
were taken into the military service, about one-half had
overseas experience. They came home with many decora-
tions and their conduct repeatedly won high commendation
from both American and European commanders.

The armies in the field could not have done their part in
the war if they had not been sustained and supported by the
far greater civilian forces at home, which through unremit-
ting toil made it possible to sustain our war effort. No part
of the community responded more willingly, more gener-
ously, more unqualifiedly, to the demand for special extraor-
dinary exertion, than did the members of the Negro race.
Whether in the military service, or in the vast mobilization
of industrial resources which the war required, the Negro
did his part precisely as did the white man. He drew no
color line when patriotism made its call upon him. He
gave precisely as his white fellow citizens gave, to the limit
of resources and abilities, to help the general cause. Thus
the American Negro established his right to the gratitude
and appreciation which the Nation has been glad to accord.

We are not all permitted the privilege of a university
training. We can not all enter the professions. What is the
great need of American citienship? To my mind it is this,
that each should take up the burden where he is. "Do the
day's work," I have said, and it should be done in the re-
membrance that all work is dignified. Your race is entitled

36 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to great praise for the contribution it makes in doing the
work of the world.

There will be other crises in the national history which
will make other demands for the fullest and most unselfish
contribution to the national interest. No generation will
be denied its opportunity, will be spared its duty, to put
forth its best efforts. We devoutly hope that these contri-
butions will not be demanded upon the field of battle. But
they will be just as truly needed, just as urgently sum-
moned, in the activities of peace, the efforts of industry, the
performance of all the obligations of citizenship. We can
not go out from this place and occasion without refreshment
of faith and renewal of confidence that in every exigency our
Negro fellow citizens will render the best and fullest measure
of service whereof they are capable.

MMft fl

VI

With us economy is imperative. It is a full test
of our national character. Bound up in it is the
true cause, not of the property interests, not of
any privilege, but of all the people. It is pre-
eminently the source of popular rights. It is
always the people who toil that pay. It seems
to me, therefore, worthy of our highest endeavor.

ECONOMY IN THE INTEREST OF ALL.

This is the seventh regular meeting of the Business Or-
ganization of the Government. The first of these meetings
was held three years ago. This marks the close of three
years of action under the Budget system. At the first
meeting was commenced an intensive campaign in behalf
of the people who pay the taxes in our country. The foes
of that campaign were extravagance and inefficiency in the
public service. For three years we have waged this inten-
sive campaign. It has been a united effort, and united effort
never fails of accomplishment. The people of this Nation
are beginning to win. In that short space of time we have
accomplished the unbelievable. Uncoordinated procedures
of official action have been coordinated. Departmental in-
terests have been made subservient to the common interests
of the Government as a whole. The business of Govern-
ment has been established on an efficient basis. You have
done this, and for doing it you are entitled to the thanks of
the American people. This has been and is their fight.

We are often told that we are a rich country, and we are.
We are often reminded that we are in the best financial con-
dition of any of the great powers, and we are. But we must
remember that we also have a broader scale of existence and
a higher standard of living. We have a freer Government
and a more flexible organization of society. Where more is
given, more is required. A tropical state of savagery almost
maintains itself. American civilization is the product of a
constant and mighty effort. One of the greatest perils to
an extensive republic is the disregard of individual rights.

At the Seventh Regular Meeting of the Business Organization of the
Government at Memorial Contenental Hall, June 30, 1924.

39

40 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

In our own country such rights do not appear to be in imme-
diate danger from direct attack, but they are always in
jeopardy through indirect action.

One of the rights which the freeman has always guarded
with most jealous care is that of enjoying the rewards of
his own industry. Realizing that the power to tax is the
power to destroy, and that the power to take a certain
amount of property or of income is only another way of
saying that for a certain proportion of his time a citizen
must work for the Government, the authority to impose a
tax on the people has been most carefully guarded. Our
own Constitution requires that revenue bills should origi-
nate in the House, because that body is supposed to be more
representative of the people. These precautions have been
taken because of the full realization that any oppression
laid upon the people by excessive taxation, any disregard of
their right to hold and enjoy the property which they have
rightfully acquired, would be fatal to freedom. A govern-
ment which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent
public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of
liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the
citizen to servitude. One of the first signs of the breaking
down of free government is a disregard by the taxing power
of the right of the people to their own property. It makes
little difference whether such a condition is brought about
through the will of a dictator, through the power of a
military force, or through the pressure of an organized
minority. The result is the same. Unless the people can
enjoy that reasonable security in the possession of their
property, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, against
unreasonable taxation, freedom is at an end. The common
man is restrained and hampered in his ability to secure food
and clothing and shelter. His wages are decreased, his hours
of labor are lengthened. Against the recurring tendency in
this direction there must be interposed the constant effort of

ECONOMY IN THE INTEREST OF ALL 41

an informed electorate and of patriotic public servants.
The importance of a constant reiteration of these principles
can not be overestimated. They can not be denied. They
must not be ignored.

There is a most urgent necessity for those who are
charged with the responsibility of government administra-
tion to realize that the people of our country can not main-
tain their own high standards, they can not compete against
the lower standards of the rest of the world, unless we are
free from excessive taxes. With us economy is imperative.
It is a full test of our national character. Bound up in it
is the true cause, not of the property interests, not of any
privilege, but of all the people. It is preeminently the
source of popular rights. It is always the people who toil
that pay. It seems to me, therefore, worthy of our highest
endeavor. It is this which gives the real importance to
this meeting.

I would not be misunderstood. I am not advocating par-
simony, I want to be liberal. Public service is entitled to
a suitable reward. But there is a distinct limit to the
amount of public service we can profitably employ. We re-
quire national defense, but it must be limited. We need
public improvements, but they must be gradual. We have
to make some capital investments, but they must be cer-
tain to give fair returns. Every dollar expended must be
made in the light of all our national resources, and all our
national needs. It is here that the Budget system gets its
strength as a method of fiscal administration.

What progress we have made in ordering the national
finances is easily shown. A comparison of our receipts and
expenditures for the last four years illustrates conclusively
what has been accomplished during the three years of the
Budget system.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921, the last pre-
Budget year, our expenditures were $5,538,000,000 and our

42 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

receipts $5,624,000,000. For the succeeding three years,
which include the year which ends to-day, our expenditures
were $3,795,000,000, $3,697,000,000 and $3,497,000,000 re-
spectively. Here we show a progressive and consistent re-
duction in expenditures. On the other side of the ledger
our receipts for 1922 were $4,109,000,000; 1923, $4,007,-
000,000; and 1924, $3,995,000,000. An analysis of these fig-
ures shows that in the face of a progressive reduction in re-
ceipts we have still achieved a substantial surplus at the
end of each of the fiscal years— $314,000,000 for 1922,
$310,000,000 for 1923, and in excess of $500,000,000 for
1924. The amounts which I have stated as being the ex-
penditures, receipts and surplus for the fiscal year 1924,
which ends to-day, are only approximate. We will not
have the actual figures until the books are finally balanced.
The surplus accumulated at the end of each of the last three
fiscal years has been applied to the reduction of the public
debt in addition to the reductions required by law under
the sinking fund and other acts. Without the aid of this
recurring surplus the public debt would be $1,100,000,000
more than it now stands, and the interest charges would be
some $45,000,000 greater next year than we shall now have
to pay.

Along with this reduction in expenditures has gone a pro-
gressive reduction of the public debt with its attendant re-
lief from the burden of interest. On June 30, 1921, the
public debt was $23,976,000,000. In 1922 it had been re-
duced more than $1,000,000,000 to $22,964,000,000. In
1923 it had been reduced more than $600,000,000 to $22,-
349,000,000. In 1924 it has been reduced again by more
than $1,000,000,000, and stands at an estimated amount of
$21,254,000,000, which is a reduction in three years of $2,-
722,000,000, and means a saving of interest of more than
$120,000,000 each year.

This shows that the intensive campaign which was com-

ECONOMY IN THE INTEREST OF ALL 43

menced three years ago has been waged unrelentingly. In
this campaign we have had the active cooperation and sup-
port of the Congress. The three budgets presented by the
Chief Executive to the Congress have carried drastic, pro-
gressive reductions in their estimates for funds. Congress
has adhered to Budget procedure in passing upon these es-
timates. The appropriations granted have been in har-
mony with the financial program of the Chief Executive.

When we met six months ago I stated to you that this
fight for economy had but one purpose — that its benefits
would accrue to the whole people through reduction in
taxes. Taxes have now been reduced. Under the new tax
law, tax receipts, as now estimated, will be approximately
$6,000,000 per day less for 1925 than they were in 1921.
While our immediate need is for tax reform, as distin-
guished from tax reduction, we must continue this cam-
paign for economy so as to make possible further tax re-
duction. We owe this to the people of our Nation, to the
people who must pay with their toil. The relief which
has recently been afforded must be only the beginning. So
in all your efforts, in all your sacrifices, you must bear in
mind that you are making them for the people of our
country. There could be no nobler cause or one showing
higher patriotism. Bear in mind always that we are here
as the servants of the people and that only as we serve
them well and faithfully shall we succeed.

This insistent demand for economy and reduction in ex-
penditures necessarily requires increasing efficiency of ad-
ministration. I realize that it is making an ever-increasing
call upon the administrative ability of responsible officials.
But this is a call for real service. It demands a most search-
ing inquiry into the field of your activities so as to remove
entirely from them all elements which are not essential
and so as to curtail all those which may be reduced without
prejudice to the welfare of the Nation. If there is any

44 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

question as to the authority of heads of departments or es-
tablishments to discontinue or reduce any phase of exist-
ing work, it is my desire that they report the matter to me.
The duty and the opportunity to-day of the Government's
administrators is not to enter upon new fields of enterprise.
On the other hand, it is their duty and opportunity to carry
on approved and necessary activities with the smallest pos-
sible expenditure. In the past twenty years the Govern-
ment's activities have developed and multiplied in a most
extraordinary way. Certainly the initiation of new activ-
ities should be discouraged unless essential to the well-being
of the Nation. We, the administrators of the Government's
great business interests, should have at this time only one
thought and policy — to perform efficiently the functions
devolving upon us under the law. And we should accom-
plish this with the smallest possible demand upon the
Treasury. We have made real progress in this direction.
Our responsibility to the taxpayers demands further prog-
ress.

To-morrow we commence a new fiscal year. We will
have a smaller revenue by reason of the lessening of the
burden of the taxpayer under the new tax law. On the
other hand, we will have an increase in our fixed charges.
The World War adjusted compensation act alone adds ap-
proximately $132,000,000 to our fixed charges for 1925. A
real battle faces us, but we are organized for the fight. The
best estimate to-day indicates a surplus of approximately
$25,000,000 for the next fiscal year. This estimate is pred-
icated on an expenditure program which, exclusive of the
redemption of the public debt, amounts to $3,083,000,000.
I desire that this expenditure program be reduced by $83,-
000,000. I do not contemplate total expenditures for the
next fiscal year which will exceed $3,000,000,000, exclusive
of the redemption of the public debt. This will give us a
surplus at the end of 1925 of $108,000,000. This, or a great-

ECONOMY IN THE INTEREST OF ALL 45

er surplus, should be our aim. The people have faith in us.
We must preserve this faith. Our efforts and our accom-
plishments are also serving as inspiration to the other na-
tions of the world. We are setting the example for reduc-
tion in the cost of government and for return to ordinary
peace-time conditions. There can be no faltering. Our
duty is plain. As we have progressed in these last three
years, so we must continue.

You, with your intimate knowledge of the details of your
work, know where further practical economies can be ef-
fected. I desire, however, that you give especial attention
to the matter of personnel. This is by far the most costly
item in our expenditures. We must reduce the Govern-
ment payroll. I am satisfied that it will lead to greater effi-
ciency. And in this same connection I desire careful scru-
tiny of travel orders. Our travel expense item is too great.
An order for travel should be given only when absolutely
necessary. You can effect economy in this item. A further
fertile field for economy is the item of printing and binding.
I am sometimes startled at the number of Government
publications which come to my attention. It can not be
that all are necessary.

In this effort for economy and efficiency in the Federal
service the coordinating agencies created by Executive or-
der have played a most important part. The necessity and
value of coordination have been clearly demonstrated. It
has brought the departments and establishments into in-
timate contact. Contradictory plans, conflicting proced-
ures, have been supplanted by common plans and har-
monious procedures. It is essential that this work go on.
I realize the heavy demands upon the members of the sev-
eral coordinating boards. They have also their depart-
mental work to perform. This calls again for a real sac-
rifice, but for a sacrifice in the interest of the taxpayers.

You are now preparing your preliminary estimates for;

46 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the fiscal year 1926. For that fiscal year it will be my pur-
pose to transmit to Congress estimates of appropriations
which, excluding the interest on and reduction in the public
debt, and the Postal Service, will not exceed a total of
$1,800,000,000. This tentative limitation is in furtherance
of my program for a progressive reduction in the cost of
government.

I regret that there are still some officials who apparently
feel that the estimates transmitted to the Bureau of the
Budget are the estimates which they are authorized to ad-
vocate before the committees of the Congress. Let me say
here that under the budget and accounting act the only
lawful estimates are those which the Chief Executive trans-
mits to the Congress. It is these estimates that call for
your loyal support. Unless such support be given, you are
not fulfilling your obligations to your office. I trust that
neither the Chief Executive nor the Appropriations Com-
mittees of Congress again will have occasion to call your
attention to the provisions of the budget and accounting
act. This law must be observed not only in its letter but
in its spirit. I herewith serve notice again as Chief Exec-
utive that I propose to protect the integrity of my budget.

We must have no carelessness in our dealings with public
property or the expenditure of public money. Such a con-
dition is characteristic either of an undeveloped people, or
of a decadent civilization. America is neither. It stands
out strong and vigorous and mature. We must have an ad-
ministration which is marked, not by the .inexperience of
youth, or the futility of age, but by the character and abil-
ity of maturity. We have had the self-control'to put into
effect the Budget system, to live under it and in accordance
with it. It is an accomplishment in the art of self-govern-
ment of the very highest importance. It means that the
American Government is not a spendthrift, and that it is
not lacking in the force or disposition to organize and ad-

ECONOMY IN THE INTEREST OF ALL 47

minister its finances in a scientific way. To maintain this
condition puts us constantly on trial. It requires us to
demonstrate whether we are weaklings, or whether we have
strength of character. It is not too much to say that it is
a measure of the power and integrity of the civilization
which we represent. I have a firm faith in your ability to
maintain this position, and in the will of the American peo-
ple to support you in that determination. In that faith in
you and them, I propose to persevere. I am for economy.
After that I am for more economy. At this time and under
present conditions that is my conception of serving all the
people.

I will now turn this meeting over to General Lord, the
Director of the Bureau of the Budget. He is human. He
hates to say no. But he is a brave man, and he does his
duty without fear or favor. This Nation is his debtor. He
will tell you more in detail of the things which have been
accomplished and of the work which lies before you under
the financial program which I have outlined to you. But
let me leave this final word with you. So far as it is within
my power I will not permit increases in expenditures that
threaten to prevent further tax reduction or that contem-
plate such an unthinkable thing as increase in taxes. If
with increasing business our revenues increase, such in-
crease should not be absorbed in new ways of spending.
They should be applied to the lowering of taxes. In that
direction lies the public welfare.

VII

It needed but little contemplation to determine
that the greatest obstacle to freedom was ignor-
ance. If there was to be self-government, if
there was to be popular sovereignty, if there was
to be an almost unlimited privilege to vote and
hold office, if the people were going to maintain
themselves and administer their own political
and social affairs, it was necessary as a purely
practical matter that they should have a suffi-
ciently trained and enlightened intelligence to
accomplish that end. Popular government
could only be predicated on popular education.

EDUCATION: THE CORNERSTONE OF SELF-

GOVERNMENT

For almost a century and a half the Fourth of July has
been marked as Independence Day. It has been given
over to the contemplation of those principles and those in-
stitutions which America peculiarly represents. In times
gone by the exuberance of youth and the consciousness of
power recently gained has often made it an occasion for
boastfulness. Long orations have been made, which con-
sisted for the most part of a reassurance to ourselves and a
notice to the world that we were a great Nation. Those
days are past. Our own people need no reassurance, the
world needs no notice, of this long self-evident conclusion.
Our country has not ceased to glory in its strength, but it
has come to a realization that it must have something more
than numbers and wealth, something more than a fleet and
an army, to satisfy the longing of the soul. It knows that
to power must be added wisdom, and to greatness must be
added morality. It is no longer so solicitous to catalogue
the powers which it possesses, as to direct those great forces
for the spiritual advancement of the American people at
home and the discharge of the obligations to humanity
abroad. America is turning from the things that are seen
to the things that are unseen.

By this I do not mean that there is in contemplation, or
required, any change in our fundamental institutions. I
mean, rather, that we are beginning to reap the rewards
which accrue from the existence of those institutions and

At the Convention of the National Education Association, Washington,
D. C, July 4, 1924.

51

52 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

our devotion and loyalty to them. Some principles are so
constant and so obvious that we do not need to change
them, but we need rather to observe them. The world is
fairly well agreed on the probable permanence of the first
four tables of the arithmetic with which I struggled when
I attended the district school. It is not thought that they
need to be changed, or that we can make any progress by
refusing to apply them. Those who seek to evade them in
the ordinary business and procedure of life would undoubt-
edly find that such action would work either to the ruin of
any commercial enterprise, or if it did not, the beneficia-
ries of such a disregard of the commonly accepted rules of
addition would undoubtedly find that a very large majority
of people would be old-fashioned enough to charge them
with fraud. The institutions of the Government and so-
ciety may not always be susceptible of a demonstration
which is as exact as those of mathematics, but nevertheless
political relationship is a very old science which has been
set out in theory and wrought out in practice through very
many centuries. Its fundamental principles are fairly well
established. That there could have been gathered together
a body of men so learned in that science, so experienced in
its application, so talented and so wise in its statement and
demonstration, as those who prepared, formulated, and se-
cured the adoption of the American Constitution, will never
cease to be the wonder and admiration of the profoundest
students of Government. After making every allowance
for a fortunate combination of circumstances and the ac-
complishments of human ingenuity, they have been nearly
all forced to come to the belief that it can be accounted for
only by the addition of another element, which we must
recognize as the guiding hand of Providence. As we can
make progress in science not by the disregard, but by the
application of the laws of mathematics, so in my firm con-
viction we can make progress politically and socially, not

EDUCATION 53

by a disregard of those fundamental principles which are the
recognized, ratified and established American institutions,
but by their scrupulous support and observance. Ameri-
can ideals do not require to be changed so much as they
require to be understood and applied.

The return of this day quite naturally invites us to a
reconsideration of those principles set out in the Declara-
tion of Independence, which were for the first time fully
established in a form of government by the adoption of the
American Constitution. Such a consideration presents
many angles, for it touches the entire life of the Nation.
To deal with so large a subject adequately, it is obvious
would require extensive treatment. On this occasion it is
possible only to touch on one phase of it.

It can not be too often pointed out that the fundamental
conception of American institutions is regard for the indi-
vidual. The rights which are so clearly asserted in the
Declaration of Independence are the rights of the individ-
ual. The wrongs of which that instrument complains, and
which it asserts it is the purpose of its signers to redress,
are the wrongs of the individual. Through it all runs the
recognition of the dignity and worth of the individual, be-
cause of his possession of those qualities which are revealed
to us by religion. It is this conception alone which war-
rants the assertion of the universal right to freedom.
America has been the working out of the modern effort to
provide a system of government and society which would
give to the individual that freedom which his nature re-
quires.

It is easy to appreciate both the soundness and the gran-
deur of such a vision. Its magnitude implies that it was a
conception not to be accomplished in a day or a year, but
by the slow and toilsome experience of generations. The
foundations of the structure have been laid, the rules of
action have been stated. It is for us to make such contri-

54 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

bution as we are able toward its completion and adoption.
The end sought has been to create a nation wherein the in-
dividual might rise to the full stature of manhood and
womanhood.

It needed but little contemplation to determine that
the greatest obstacle to freedom was ignorance. If there
was to be self-government, if there was to be popular sov-
ereignty, if there was to be an almost unlimited privilege
to vote and hold office, if the people were going to maintain
themselves and administer their own political and social
affairs, it was necessary as a purely practical matter that
they should have a sufficiently trained and enlightened in-
telligence to accomplish that end. Popular government
could only be predicated on popular education. In addi-
tion to this, the very conception of the value and responsi-
bility of the individual, which made him worthy to be en-
trusted with this high estate, required that he should be
furnished the opportunity to develop the spiritual nature,
with which he was endowed, through adequate education.

Merely to state the American ideal is to perceive not
only how far we still are from its realization, but to com-
prehend with what patience we must view many seeming
failures, while we contemplate with great satisfaction much
assured success.

We can see the early beginnings of our country and un-
derstand the situation in those days better than it was
understood by its own contemporaries. It was a time of
great toil and hardship. The entire settled area could be
described as little more than a frontier. Everything in the
way of modern convenience was wanting, and save where a
sea-going commerce was beginning, there was an entire ab-
sence of wealth. The America which we know had yet to
be made. But the land was blessed with a great people
and with great leaders. Washington and Jefferson, Frank-
lin and Mason, Hamilton and Madison^ Adams and Mar-

EDUCATION 55

shall, suggest a type of citizenship and leadership, of schol-
arship and statesmanship, of wisdom and character, of abil-
ity and patriotism, unsurpassed by any group of men ever
brought together to direct the political destinies of a na-
tion. They did what they could in their time for the ad-
vancement of the public welfare, and they were not dis-
contented because they could not immediately secure per-
fection. They had a vision and they worked toward it.
They knew that in their day it was not to be fully realized.
They did not lack the courage to have faith in the future.

They started the country on that long road of stupendous
achievement with which you are all so familiar. To pro-
vide for that human welfare which was the cherished hope
of the Declaration of Independence and the well-wrought-
out plan of the Federal Constitution, it was necessary to
develop the material resources of our country. There had
to be created the instruments with which to minister to the
well-being of the people. National poverty had to be re-
placed with national possessions. Transportation had to
be provided by land and water. Manufacturing plants had
to be erected. Great agricultural resources had to be
brought under cultivation. The news service of the press
had to be established. The schoolhouse, the university,
the place of religious worship, all had to be built. All of
these mighty agencies had to be created, that they might
contribute to a unified national life where freedom might
reign and where the citizen might be his own sovereign.

It was only as this work was accomplished, as these in-
struments were provided, these properties built, and these
possessions accumulated, that there could be a reduction
in the hours of labor, an increase in the rewards of employ-
ment, and a general betterment in those material conditions
which result in a higher standard of living. The leisure for
culture had to be secured in this way. Servitude of all
kinds is scarcely ever abolished unless there is created eco-

56 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

nomic opportunity for freedom. We are beginning to see
that the economic development of our country was not only
necessary for advancing the welfare of the people, but that
we must maintain an expanding power of production if that
welfare is to be increased. Business makes a most valuable
contribution to human progress.

As we look back upon all this development, while we
know that it was absolutely dependent upon a reign of law,
nevertheless some of us can not help thinking how little of
it has been dependent on acts of legislation. Given their
institutions, the people themselves have in the past, as they
must in the future, to a very large degree worked out their
own salvation without the interposition of the Government.
It is always possible to regulate and supervise by legisla-
tion what has already been created, but while legislation
can stimulate and encourage, the real creative ability which
builds up and develops the country, ancTin general makes
human existence more tolerable and life more complete, has
to be supplied by the genius of the people themselves. The
Government can supply no substitute for enterprise.

As a result of the activity of all these forces, our country
has developed enormous resources. It has likewise to be
admitted that its requirements are very large, but the fact
remains that it has come into a position where it has the
accumulations of wealth and means of production more ad-
equately to provide for the welfare of its people, and more
securely to establish their physical, mental, and moral well-
being. You are making your contribution to this great
work in the field of education. It is here especially that
the growth and progress of our country can be most easily
understood. You can realize what an opportunity for se-
curing the higher things of life they have provided when
you recall that it is claimed that one out of every four per-
sons in this Nation, either as pupil, administrator, or teach-
er, is now in some capacity directly concerned in education.

EDUCATION 57

In the year 1921-22, the latest time for which complete
statistics have been compiled, the students in the elemen-
tary and secondary schools, in the colleges and universities,
had reached the unprecedented number of 26,206,756, and
the total number of teachers and administrators approxi-
mately 882,500. If to this number one should add the par-
ents, the members of school boards, and the taxpayers who
maintain them, it becomes clear at once how universal is
the direct or indirect concern of our citizens with the
schools.

Another indication, both of our increasing resources and
of the tremendous importance of education in the life of
the Nation, is the great amount of money which we are
able to spend for it. Twelve years ago the total money ex-
pended for all educational purposes amounted approxi-
mate to $705,781,900. In 10 years this had increased to
$2,144,651,000. Even when one takes into account the de-
preciation of the dollar, due to the economic changes caused
by the World War, it becomes clear that the American
people have demonstrated their faith in education and their
determination to use the wealth of the Nation for the cre-
ation of the highest type of manhood and womanhood.

While I believe that educators are under obligation to
expend public funds economically, it seems obvious that the
recent increase in expenses for this purpose is a most wise
investment. It is impossible to conceive that there should
be any increase in agricultural products, in the production
of manufactures, or any other increase in our material
wealth, through ignorance. The reaction to using the re-
sources of the country to develop the brains of the country
through education has always been greatly to stimulate
and increase the power of the people to produce.

As already indicated, America is turning from the mere
thought of the material advantage to a greater appreciation
of the cultural advantage of learning. It is coming to be

58 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

valued more and more for its own sake. People desire not
only the intelligence to comprehend economic and social
problems, but they are finding increased leisure is little
more than time wasted in indulgence, unless an opportunity
for self-development and self-expression has been provided
in youth by the cultivation of a taste for literature, history,
and the fine arts.

It is necessary also that education should be the hand-
maid of citizenship. Our institutions are constantly and
very properly the subject of critical inquiry. Unless their
nature is comprehended, and their origin is understood,
unless their value be properly assessed, the citizen falls
ready prey to those selfish agitators who would exploit his
prejudices to promote their own advantage. On this day,
of all days, it ought to be made clear that America has had
its revolution and placed the power of Government square-
ly, securely, and entirely in the hands of the people. For
all changes which they may desire, for all grievances which
they may suffer, the ballot box furnishes a complete method
and remedy. Into their hands has been committed com-
plete jurisdiction and control over all the functions of Gov-
ernment. For the most part our institutions are attacked
in the name of social and economic reform. Unless there
be some teaching of sound economics in the schools, the
voter and taxpayer are in danger of accepting vague theories
which lead only to social discontent and public disaster.
The body politic has little chance of choosing patriotic of-
ficials who can administer its financial affairs with wisdom
and safety, unless there is a general diffusion of knowledge
and information on elementary economic subjects sufficient
to create and adequately to support public opinion. Every-
one ought to realize that the sole source of national wealth
is thrift and industry, and that the sole supply of the pub-
lic treasury is the toil of the people. Of course, patriotism
is always to be taught. National defense is a necessity and

EDUCATION 59

a virtue, but peace with honor is the normal, natural condi-
tion of mankind, and must be made the chief end to be
sought in human relationship.

Another element must be secured in the training of cit-
izenship, or all else will be in vain. All of our learning and
science, our culture and our arts, will be of little avail, un-
less they are supported by high character, unless there be
honor, truth, and justice. Unless our material resources are
supported by moral and spiritual resources, there is no
foundation for progress. A trained intelligence can do
much, but there is no substitute for morality, character, and
religious convictions. Unless these abide, American citizen-
ship will be found unequal to its task.

It is with some diffidence that I speak of the required
facilities of the school in this presence. We are able to
give more attention to the schoolhouse than formerly. It
ought to be not only convenient, commodious, and sanitary,
but it ought to be a work of art which would appeal to the
love of the beautiful. The schoolhouse itself ought to im-
press the scholar with an ideal, it ought to serve as an in-
spiration.

But the main factor of every school is the teacher. Teach-
ing is one of the noblest of professions. It requires an
adequate preparation and training, patience, devotion, and
a deep sense of responsibility. Those who mold the human
mind have wrought not for time, but for eternity. The
obligation which we all owe to those devoted men and
women who have given of their lives to the education of the
youth of our country that they might have freedom through
coming into a knowledge of the truth is one which can never
be discharged. They are entitled not only to adequate re-
wards for their service, but to the veneration and honor of
a grateful people.

It is not alone the youth of the land which needs and
seeks education, but we have a large adult population re-

60 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

quiring assistance in this direction. Our last census showed
nearly 14,000,000 foreign-born white persons residing
among us, made up largely of those beyond school age,
many of whom nevertheless need the opportunity to learn
to read and write the English language, that they may come
into more direct contact with the ideals and standards of
our life, political and social. There are likewise over 3,000,-
000 native illiterates. When it is remembered that ignor-
ance is the most fruitful source of poverty, vice, and crime,
it is easy to realize the necessity for removing what is a
menace, not only to our social well-being, but to the very
existence of the Republic. A failure to meet this obliga-
tion registers a serious and inexcusable defect in our Gov-
ernment. Such a condition not only works to a national
disadvantage, but directly contradicts all our assertions re-
garding human rights. One of the chief rights of an Ameri-
can citizen is the right to an education. The opportunity
to secure it must not only be provided, but if necessary
made compulsory.

It is in this connection that we are coming to give more
attention to rural and small village schools, which serve 47
per cent of the children of the Nation. It is significant that
less than 70 per cent of these children average to be in at-
tendance on any school day, and that there is a tendency to
leave them in charge of undertrained and underpaid teach-
ers. The advent of good roads should do much to improve
these conditions. The old one-room country school, such
as I attended, ought to give way to the consolidated school,
with a modern building, and an adequate teaching force,
commensurate with the best advantages that are provided
for our urban population. While life in the open country'
has many advantages that are denied to those reared on
the pavements and among crowded buildings, it ought no
longer to be handicapped by poor school facilities. The re-

EDUCATION 61

sources exist with which they can be provided, if they are
but adequately marshalled and employed.

The encouragement and support of education is peculiar-
ly the function of the several States. While the political
units of the district, the township, and the county should
not fail to make whatever contribution they are able, never-
theless since the wealth and resources of the different com-
munities vary, while the needs of the youth for education
in the rich city and in the poor country are exactly the
same, and the obligations of society toward them are ex-
actly the same, it is proper that the State treasury should
be called on to supply the needed deficiency. The State
must contribute, set the standard, and provide supervision
if society is to discharge its full duty not only to the youth
of the country, but even to itself.

The cause of education has long had the thoughtful so-
licitude of the National Government. While it is realized
that it is a State affair, rather than a national affair, never-
theless it has provided by law a Bureau of Education. It
has not been thought wise to undertake to collect money
from the various States into the National Treasury and dis-
tribute it again among the various States for the direct sup-
port of education. It has seemed a better policy to leave
their taxable resources to the States, and permit them to
make their own assessments for the support of their own
schools in their own way. But for a long time the cause of
education has been regarded as so important and so preem-
inently an American cause, that the National Government
has sought to encourage it, scientifically to investigate its
needs, and furnish information and advice for its constant
advancement. Pending before the Congress is the report
of a committee which proposes to establish a Department
of Education and Relief, to be presided over by a Cabinet
officer. Bearing in mind that this does not mean any in-
terference with the local control, but is rather an attempt

62 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to recognize and dignify the importance of educational ef-
fort, such proposal has my hearty indorsement and support.

It is thus that our educational system has been and is
ministering to our national life. Our country is in process
of development. Its physical elements are incomplete. Its
institutions have been declared, but they are very far from
being adopted and applied. We have not yet arrived at
perfection. A scientific investigation of child life has been
begun, but yet remains to be finished. There is a vast
amount of ignorance and misunderstanding, of envy,
hatred, and jealousy, with their attendant train of vice and
crime. We are not yet free, but we are struggling to become
free economically, socially, politically, spiritually. We have
limited our amount of immigration in order that the peo-
ple who live here, whether of native or foreign origin, might
continue to enjoy the economic advantages of our country,
and that there might not be any lowering of the standards
of our existence, that America might remain American.
We have submitted an amendment to the national Consti-
tution designed to protect the child life of the Nation from
the unwarranted imposition of toil, that it might have
greater opportunity for enlightenment. All of these move-
ments are in the direction of increased national freedom,
and an advance toward the realization of the vision of
Washington and Lincoln.

A new importance is attaching to the cause of educations
A new realization of its urgent necessity is taking hold of
the Nation. A new comprehension that the problem is
only beginning to be solved is upon the people. A new
determination to meet the requirements of the situation is
everywhere apparent. The economic and moral waste of
ignorance will little longer be tolerated. This awakening
is one of the most significant developments of the times. It
indicates that our national spirit is reasserting itself. It
is a most reassuring evidence that the country is recover-

EDUCATION 63

ing from the natural exhaustion of the war, and that it is
rising to a new life and starting on a new course. It is in-
tent, as never before, upon listening to the word of the
teacher, whether it comes from the platform, the school-
house, or the pulpit. The power of evil is being broken.
The power of the truth is reasserting itself. The Declara-
tion of Independence is continuing to justify itself.

t
C

i

vin C

c

Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not con-
tribute; cynics do not create. Faith is the great
motive power, and no man realizes his full pos-
sibilities unless he has the deep conviction that L
life is eternally important, and that his work,
well done, is a part of an unending plan. m

c

I

9

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BOY SCOUT

There was no Boy Scout organization in my boyhood,
but every boy who has the privilege of growing up on a farm
learns instinctively the three fundamentals of scouthood.

The first is a reverence for nature. Boys should never
lose their love of the fields and the streams, the mountains
and the plains, the open places and the forests. That love
will be a priceless possession as your years lengthen out.
There is an instructive myth about the giant Antaeus.
Whenever in a contest he was thrown down, he drew fresh
strength from his mother, the earth, and so was thought
invincible. But Hercules lifted him away from the earth
and so destroyed him. There is new life in the soil for
every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds
and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the
hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that na-
ture is your great restorer.

The second is a reverence for law. I remember the town
meetings of my boyhood, when the citizens of our little
town met to levy taxes on themselves, and to choose from
their own number those who should be their officers. There
is something in every town meeting, in every election, that
approaches very near to the sublime. I am thrilled at the
thought of my audience tonight, for I never address boys
without thinking, among them may be a boy who will sit
in this White House. Somewhere there are boys who will
be presidents of our railroads, presidents of colleges, of

Address delivered at the White House July 25, 1924, and transmitted
by telephone to a farewell meeting in New York for a group of Boy
Scouts who were to sail July 26 to attend an international gathering of
the organization in Copenhagen.

67

68 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

banks, owners of splendid farms and useful industries,
members of Congress, representatives of our people in for-
eign lands. That is the heritage of the American boy.

It was an act of magnificent courage when our ancestors
set up a nation wherein any boy may aspire to anything.
That great achievement was not wrought without blood
and sacrifice. Make firm your resolution to carry on nobly
what has been so nobly begun. Let this nation, under your
influence, be a finer nation. Resolve that the sacrifices by
which your great opportunities have been purchased will be
matched by a sacrifice, on your part, that will give your
children even a better chance.

The third is a reverence for God. It is hard to see how a
great man can be an atheist. Without the sustaining in-
fluence of faith in a divine power we could have little faith
in ourselves. We need to feel that behind us is intelligence
and love. Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not con-
tribute; cynics do not create. Faith is the great motive
power, and no man realizes his full possibilities unless he
has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and
that his work, well done, is a part of an unending plan.

These are not only some of the fundamentals of the
teachings of the Boy Scouts, they are the fundamentals of
our American institutions. If you will take them with you,
if you will be living examples of them abroad, you will make
a great contribution toward a better understanding of our
country, and receive in return a better understanding of
other countries ; for you will find in foreign lands, to a very
large extent, exactly what you carry there yourselves. I
trust that you can show to your foreign associates in the
great scout movement that you have a deep reverence for
the truth and are determined to live by it ; that you wish to
protect and cherish your own country and contribute to
the well being, right thinking and true living of the whole
world.

IX

Our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all
our citizens, without discrimination on account
of race or color. I have taken my oath to sup-
port that Constitution. It is the source of your
rights and my rights. I propose to regard it,
and administer it, as the source of the rights of
all the people, whatever their belief or race.

EQUALITY OF RIGHTS

My dear Sir:

Your letter is received, accompanied by a newspaper clip-
ping which discusses the possibility that a colored man may
be the Republican nominee for Congress from one of the
New York districts. Referring to this newspaper state-
ment, you say:

"It is of some concern whether a Negro is allowed to
run for Congress anywhere, at any time, in any party,
in this, a white man's country. Repeated ignoring of
the growing race problem does not excuse us for al-
lowing encroachments. Temporizing with the Negro
whether he will or will not vote either a Democratic or
a Republican ticket, as evidenced by the recent turn-
over in Oklahoma, is contemptible."

Leaving out of consideration the manifest impropriety of
the President intruding himself in a local contest for nom-
ination, I was amazed to receive such a letter. During the
war 500,000 colored men and boys were called up under the
draft, not one of whom sought to evade it. They took
their places wherever assigned in defense of the nation of
which they are just as truly citizens as are any others. The
suggestion of denying any measure of their full political
rights to such a great group of our population as the col-
ored people is one which, however it might be received in
some other quarters, could not possibly be permitted by one
who feels a responsibility for living up to the traditions and

Letter to Mr. Charles F. Gardner, Fort Hamilton, New York, dated
August 9, 1924.

71

72 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

maintaining the principles of the Republican Party. Our
Constitution guarantees equal rights to all our citizens,
without discrimination on account of race or color. I have
taken my oath to support that Constitution. It is the
source of your rights and my rights. I propose to regard it,
and administer it, as the source of the rights of all the peo-
ple, whatever their belief or race. A colored man is pre-
cisely as much entitled to submit his candidacy in a party
primary, as is any other citizen. The decision must be
made by the constituents to whom he offers himself, and by
nobody else. You have suggested that in some fashion I
should bring influence to bear to prevent the possibility of
a colored man being nominated for Congress. In reply,
I quote my great predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt:

" * * * I cannot consent to take the position that the
door of hope — the door of opportunity — is to be shut upon
any man, no matter how worthy, purely upon the grounds

of race or color."

Yours very truly, etc.

J

We perform different tasks, but the spirit is the

same. We are proud of work and ashamed of

idleness. With us there is no task which is \

menial, no service which is degrading. All work

is ennobling and all workers are ennobled.

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR

Labor Day is more entitled than any other to be called
a national holiday. Other holidays had their origin in state
legislative action. Labor Day had its origin in national
legislative action. After Congress had taken the lead the
states followed. It is moreover a peculiarly American hol-
iday. It is a most characteristic representation of our
ideals. No other country, I am told, makes a like observ-
ance. But in America this high tribute is paid in recogni-
tion of the worth and dignity of the men and women who
toil.

You come here as representative Americans. You are true
representatives. I cannot think of anything characteristi-
cally American that was not produced by toil. I cannot
think of any American man or woman preeminent in the
history of our Nation who did not reach their place through
toil. I cannot think of anything that represents the Ameri-
can people as a whole so adequately as honest work. We
perform different tasks, but the spirit is the same. We are
proud of work and ashamed of idleness. With us there is
no task which is menial, no servcie which is degrading. All
work is ennobling and all workers are ennobled.

To my mind America has but one main problem, the
character of the men and women it shall produce. It is not
fundamentally a Government problem, although the Gov-
ernment can be of a great influence in its solution. It is
the real problem of the people themselves. They control
its property, they have determined its government, they

Address delivered to a Group of Labor Leaders, who called on the
President, Sept. 1, 1924.

75

76 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

manage its business. In all things they are the masters of
their own destiny. What they are, their intelligence, their
fidelity, their courage, their faith, will determine our mate-
rial prosperity, our successes and happiness at home, and
our place in the world abroad.

If anything is to be done then, by the Government, for
the people who toil, for the cause of labor, which is the sum
of all other causes, it will be by continuing its efforts to pro-
vide healthful surroundings, education, reasonable condi-
tions of employment, fair wages for fair work, stable busi-
ness prosperity, and the encouragement of religious wor-
ship. This is the general American policy which is work-
ing out with a success more complete for humanity, with
its finite limitations, than was ever accomplished anywhere
else in the world. The door of opportunity swings wide
open in our country. Through it, in constant flow, go those
who toil. America recognizes no aristocracy save those who
work. The badge of service is the sole requirement for
admission to the ranks of our nobility.

These American policies should be continued. We have
outlawed all artificial privilege. We have had our revolu-
tion and our reforms. I do not favor a corporation gov-
ernment, a bank government, a farm government or a labor
government. I am for a common-sense government by all
the people according to the American policy and under the
American Constitution. I want all the people to continue
to be partakers in self government. We never had a gov-
ernment under our Constitution that was not put into office
by the votes of the toilers.

It is only necessary to look about you to observe the
practical effect of this policy. It is somewhat difficult to
find men in important Government positions who did not
in their beginnings live by the work of their hands. Of
those who sit at the Cabinet table of the Nation none were
born to the purple, save only as they were born to become

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR 77

American citizens, and nearly all in early life earned their
living by actual manual labor. The Secretary of Labor
comes from union labor ranks. In each important national
conference in which labor is interested, labor has been rep-
resented. On several occasions under this administration
that has been the practice. It was so at the Conference
on Unemployment, on Transportation, on Agriculture, on
the Business Cycle, on Intermittent Employment in
Construction Industries, and on the great Washington
Conference for the Limitation of Armaments. The
same policy prevails in the membership of many of our
important commissions. The Chairman of the United
States Sh '-oping Board, one of the most important places
of business administration in the Government, is filled by
a man who was prominent in organized labor. The St.
Lawrence River, the Interstate Commerce, and the United
States Employees' Compensation Commissions, the Voca-
tional Education and the Railway Labor Boards, are ex-
amples of this policy and are results of the open door of
opportunity. Those who have been identified with toil are
now, and will continue to be, in important places of govern-
ment authority. The wage earners of America have been
mixing their work with brains ever since the day of George
Washington.

But the Government of the United States is not for the
gratification of the people who happen to hold office. It
is established to promote the general welfare of all the
people. That is the American ideal. No matter how many
officeholders there may be, or what their origin, our institu-
tions are a failure unless they serve all the citizens in their
own homes. It is always necessary to find out what effect
the institutions of Government and society have on the
wage earner, in order to judge of the desirability of their
continuation.

One of the outstanding features of the present day is

78 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

that American wage earners are living better than at any
other time in our history. They have not only retained,
but actually increased, the gains they made during the war.
The cost of living has been high, but the increase in wages
has been greater. Compilations of the Department of La-
bor demonstrate that the wages of an hour, or a day,
buy more now than it ever did before. Not only are the
American wage earners now receiving more money, and
more of the things that money will buy, for their work, than
any other wage earners in the world, but more than was
ever before received by any community of wage earners.
We have here in the United States not only the best paid
workers in the world, but the best paid workers that ever
lived in this world.

All this has been accomplished in spite of a general
shortening of the hours of labor in the industries. The
case of the iron and steel, and the box board industry, are
particularly notable in this regard. As a direct result of
President Harding's initiative the iron and steel manufac-
turers were brought together, and an agreement was
reached under which the 12-hour day and the 7-day week
have been eliminated. Secretary Davis did the same for
the box board workers.

Yet this has been done without any loss in wages. On
the other hand, there has been actual gain. The Depart-
ment of Labor statistics show that in 1924 the customary
working time per week in blast furnaces has been reduced
to 75 per cent of the customary working time per week
in 1913. But earnings per hour in 1924 are more than two
and one-half times the earnings per hour in 1913. Despite
the great reduction in hours, weekly earnings in this indus-
try stand 90% above weekly earnings of 1913.

In the open-hearth furnace department of the iron and
steel industry, working hours are now only 74% of the work-
ing hours of 1913. But earnings per hour are more than two

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR 79

and two-thirds times the earnings per hour of 1913. Earn-
ings per week are 99% above the weekly earnings of 1913.
All other departments of the iron and steel industry have
enjoyed large increases in earnings per hour and per week.

I know that figures are sometimes tiresome. But these
I am quoting pre so eloquent that I am sure you will par-
don other illustrations. In the shoe industry regular work-
ing hours are now 11% lower than in 1913, hourly wages
are two and one-seventh times those of 1913, and full-time
weekly earnings are 92% above those of 1913.

In cotton manufacturing hourly earnings are more than
two and one-half times those of 1913. Working hours have
been reduced 8%, and wages by the week are almost two
and one-third times what they were in 1913.

The figures I have quoted apply to workers in these in-
dustries, regardless of whether they are organized or un-
organized. A study of wages in organized trades shows
that in 1923 the average wage per hour was two and one-
ninth times that in 1913, and two and one-third times that
of 1907. Taking the entire body of union men, working
hours have been reduced 6% as against 1913 and 8% as
against 1907. But their weekly pay in 1923 was 99%
higher than in 19 13, and two and one-sixth times as high
as in 1907. And let it be added, the figures show that aver-
age wages of organized workers in 1924, are higher than in
1923.

But increased wages, in terms of money, mean little if
they are entirely absorbed by higher prices of the neces-
saries of life. In order to know whether an increase in the
money wage is also an increase in the real wage, we must
know how much the prices have advanced. On that point,
I find that the cost of living of the average family for the
same standard of living has been falling since the high
point was reached in 1920, and is now, in terms of money,
only 69% above the level of 1913. That is, the increase in

80 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

wages has far outrun the advance in the cost of living.
Real wages, as determined by the things that money wages
will buy, are higher today than ever before in our history.

A moment ago I said that the American workman is now
not only better paid than he was ever before, but better
paid than any other workman in the world's history. I
want to give one or two illustrations to show his advantage
over wage earners of other countries. Some very recent
figures have made it possible to compare British and Ameri-
can earnings. They show that the average British cotton
mill worker earned $7.85 per week in June this year, while
the average American cotton mill worker earned $14.95.
The British woolen mill operative earned $9.56 per week;
the American $26.21. The British potter earned $8.34,
compared to the American potter's $26.70.

But once more, we must inquire about the comparative
buying power of money in the two countries before we can
be assured that the actual earnings of the Americans are
higher than those of the British wage earner. It happens
that the British Government has made a study of wages
and living costs in the principal cities of several countries,
as of 1923. It was found that a bricklayer in Madrid re-
ceives a wage which buys only 50% as much as the London
bricklayer can buy with his wage. The Vienna bricklayer
has a wage whose purchasing power is 57% of that of the
London bricklayer. The Berlin bricklayer's wage has 61%
of the buying power of the London bricklayer; while the
Paris bricklayer's wage will purchase 71% as much as will
the wage of the London bricklayer.

These figures show that the British working man is easily
the aristocrat of all Europe. He earns much higher wages,
measured in buying power, than any working man on the
continent. And yet, this same British authority shows that
the New York bricklayer earns a wage whose effective buy-

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR 81

ing power is two and three-fourths times that of the Lon-
don bricklayer.

In other trades and occupations the comparisons lead to
similar conclusions. Wherever you turn, the statistics of
wages and living costs show that the American wage earner
enjoys a buying power enormously greater than that of
any other wage earner in the world.

We do not need to import any foreign economic ideas or
any foreign government. We had better stick to the Ameri-
can brand of government, the American brand of equality,
and the American brand of wages. America had better stay
American.

These are some of the material results of present Ameri-
can policies. We have enacted many laws to protect the
health of those who are employed in the industries. Espe-
cial efforts have been made in this direction in behalf of
women and children. We are attempting at the present
time to secure a constitutional amendment giving Congress
jurisdiction over child labor. The efforts of the states and
Nation to provide and encourage education have been such
that it is fair to claim that any youth, no matter how
humble his circumstances, can unaided secure a college
education by the exercise of his own efforts. We have
achieved an equality of opportunity which has opened
up the avenues of a more abundant life to all the people.

There are two sides to every bargain. It is not only
human nature, but necessary to progress, that each side
should desire to secure a good trade. This is the case in
contracts for employment. In order to give wage earners
reasonable advantages, their right has been established
to organize, to bargain collectively, and to negotiate
through their own chosen agents. The principle also of
voluntary arbitration has come to exist almost as a right.
Compulsory arbitration has sometimes been proposed, but
to my mind it cannot be reconciled with the right of in-

82 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

dividual freedom. Along with the right to organize goes
the right to strike, which is recognized in all private em-
ployment. The establishment of all these principles has no
doubt been productive of industrial peace, which we are
at the present time enjoying to a most unusual degree.
This has been brought about by the general recognition
that on the whole labor leaders are square, and on the whole
employers intend to be fair. When this is the case, mutual
conference is the best method of adjusting differences in
private industry. Of course employment affecting public
safety or public necessity is not private employment, and
requires somewhat different treatment. In this field we
have been making an interesting experiment in relation to
railroad labor. This has no doubt been a step in advance.
It could probably be modified, through mutual agreement,
to the benefit of all concerned.

Soon after the close of the war the policy of deflation
was adopted, which no doubt some though might be used
to secure a reduction in wages and the dissolution of labor
organizations. This administration refused to lend itself
to any such program, and at once adopted a policy, which
it has steadily pursued, of helpfulness to business, industry
and labor. The Federal Reserve System has constantly re-
duced discount rates, business has revived, and the millions
who were without employment have found plenty of work
at an increasing rate of wages. It is my belief that this
policy represents one of the most important and helpful
services on the part of the United States Government which
was ever performed for the benefit of the 'wage earners of
this Nation. When almost everything else went crashing
down, a change of front took place in time to save them
from almost certain destruction.

As a result of all these fortunate circumstances, organ-
ized labor is fast becoming one of the powers of capital in
this country. Its cooperative enterprises and its entrance

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR 83

into the field of banking and investment have given it not
only a new power of influence, but a new point of view.
It is learning the problems of enterprise and management
by actual experience. This again is the working out of the
American ideal in industry. It is the beginning of a more
complete economic equality among all the people. I be-
lieve it to be the beginning of an era of better understand-
ing, more sympathy, and more fellowship, among those who
serve the common welfare through investment and man-
agement, and those who serve as wage earners. We have
yet a long way to go, but progress has begun and the way
lies open to a more complete understanding that will mark
the end of industrial strife.

It is my policy to continue these conditions in so far as
it is possible and to continue this march of progress. There
are two important domestic factors in this situation. One
is restrictive immigration. This has been adopted by this
administration chiefly for the purpose of maintaining
American standards. It undoubtedly has a very great eco-
nomic effect. We want the people who live in America, no
matter what their origin, to be able to continue in the
enjoyment of their present unprecedented advantages.
This opportunity would certainly be destroyed by the tre-
mendous influx of foreign peoples, if immigration were not
restricted. Unemployment would become a menace, and
there would follow an almost certain reduction of wages,
with all the attendant distress and despair which is now
suffered in so many parts of Europe. Our first duty is to
our own people. The second important factor is that of a
tariff for protection. I have already given you some ex-
amples of the wages paid in Europe. Such a scale means
that goods can be produced much cheaper there than they
can here. If our policy of protection is to be abandoned,
the goods which are now made by the wage earners of
America will be made by the wage earners of Europe.

84 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Our own people will be out of employment. Our entire
business system will be thrown into confusion with the
want and misery which always accompany the hard times
of attempted economic readjustment. Under free trade
the only way we could meet European competition would
be by approaching the European standard of wages. I
want to see the American standard of living maintained.
We shall not be misled by any appeal for cheap goods, if
we remember that this was completely answered by Presi-
dent McKinley when he stated that cheap goods make
cheap men. By restrictive immigration, by adequate pro-
tection, I want to prevent America from producing cheap
men.

To these must be added economy of expenditure by,
the local and national governments. There are about 24,-
000,000 heads of families in the United States. It takes
5,000,000 of these working at $5.00 a day to pay the present
cost of governments. This gives us some idea of what pub-
lic expense takes out of the productive power of the Nation.
No matter what anyone may say about making the rich
and the corporations pay the taxes, in the end they come
out of the people who toil. It is your fellow workers who
are ordered to work for the Government, every time an
appropriation bill is passed. The people pay the expense
of government, often many times over, in the increased
cost of living. I want taxes to be less, that the people may
have more.

I am for peace and against aggressive war. I am opposed
to warlike preparations. But I am in favor of an adequate
Army and Navy to insure our citizens against any inter-
ference with domestic tranquillity at home or any imposi-
tion abroad. It is only in peaceful conditions that there
is a real hope of progress. I want to have America co-
operate in securing speedy settlement of European differ-
ences, and assist in financing a revival of business which

THE HIGH PLACE OF LABOR 85

would be of world-wide benefit to wage earners. I am in
favor of continuing and extending the policy of covenants
between nations for further disarmament and more exten-
sive guarantees of permanent peace.

These are some of the policies which I believe we should
support, in order that our country may not fail in the char-
acter of the men and women which it produces. I want to
see our institutions more and more humane. But I do
not want to see any of the people cringing suppliants a

for the favor of the Government, when they should all be
independent masters of their own destiny. I want to en-
courage business, that it may provide profitable employ-
ment. I want to see jobs hunting for men, rather than men
hunting for jobs. I want the factory able to consume at a
fair price the products of the farm. I want every indi-
vidual, no matter how humble, to know that over him is the
protection of public law. I want to raise the economic
condition and increase the moral and spiritual well-being of
our country. The foundation for a new era is being steadily
and surely laid. Whether we shall enter upon it, depends
upon the attitude of our fellow countrymen. I have an
abiding faith in the American people.

I

XI

The cause of freedom has been triumphant.
We believe it to be, likewise, the cause of peace.

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE.

This occasion is dedicated to freedom. The people of
Baltimore, and of Maryland, are gathered here in that
spirit. Because Americans cherish that sentiment they
cherish the name of Lafayette. On the anniversary of his
birth, we are gathered about his statue in this proud city
which we know he loved, almost in the shadow of the
stately monument reared to his great friend Washington,
to rededicate ourselves to the inspiring memory of a true
son of world freedom.

This is not only his birthday, but the anniversary of the
farewell reception extended to him at the White House by
President Adams during his last visit to our country. This
day not only recalls his youth and his dashing figure in our
Revolution, but it reminds us of the venerable man, half
a century later, held in love and admiration by two coun-
tries for the sacrifices he had made in the service of liberty.

His picture to me seems always to have the enthusiasm
and freshness of youth, moved with the high-minded and
patriotic purpose of maturity. He displayed the same
ambition for faithful service, whether he was leading his
soldiers in the last charge for American liberty at York-
town or rebuking the mob at Paris for its proposal to make
him king. His part in the French Revolution is well known.
He served the cause of ordered liberty in America; he was
unwilling to serve any other cause in France. His admirers
might say of him on the first anniversary of Bastile Day,
"He is galloping through the ages/' But he refused to be

Address delivered at the dedication of a monument to Lafayette, at
Baltimore, Md., Saturday, September 6, 1924.

89

90 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

a man on horseback. He knew that the welfare of his coun-
try lay in moderation. The people trusted him, but the
extremists, whether Jacobin or Royalist, feared him. He
urged the National Assembly to establish by constitutional
guarantees what the Revolution had gained.

As Commander of the National Guard, again he might
have made himself dictator. Instead he was pleading with
the Assembly to adopt the preamble of the American Con-
stitution as the foundation of its declaration of rights.
When alien armies were brought to France to crush her
liberties he was put at the head of the Army of the North,
but treachery and suspicion overcame him. He was re-
tired from his command and was seeking to leave the
country when he was captured and held for five years in
imprisonment. Tradition has it that he was released
through the joint efforts of Washington and Napoleon.

He had a deep appreciation of this action, but always re-
fused to support the Napoleonic regime. After Waterloo
he insisted that Napoleon must abdicate and that the
nation must guarantee his life and liberty. When the
Bourbons were restored he denounced usurpations in the
name of royalty, as he had formerly denounced usurpa-
tions in the name of liberty. As a consequence he was
charged with treason. He defied the Assembly to try him
on such a charge. "During the whole of a life devoted en-
tirely to liberty I have constantly been attacked by the
enemies of that cause," he declared. "I demand a public
inquiry within the walls of this chamber and in the face
of this nation." As his enemies dared riot meet the chal-
lenge, he was acquitted.

After a few years of private retirement he emerged to
pay a visit to this country, one hundred years ago. Con-
gress bestowed upon him citizenship and treasure and he
was received everywhere with reverence and acclaim.
When the Revolution of July occurred in 1830 he once more

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE 91

became Commander of the National Guard, where his in-
fluence saved his people from horrible excesses. Again
there was an effort to establish a republic and make him
President. But he thought a constitutional monarchy best
adapted to the needs of his nation. So he refused this
most appealing of all honors and returned to his country
home. His long career was ended.

He represents a noble and courageous dedication to the
service of freedom. He never sought for personal aggrand-
izement, but under heavy temptation remained loyal to
the great Cause. He possessed a character that will abide
with us through the generations. He loved his fellowmen,
and believed in the ultimate triumph of self-government.
But he did not consider France had reached a point where
representative democracy would be a success. He was
practical. Like Washington, he refused a crown. But
while he believed Washington performed a great service in
accepting the Presidency of America, he believed he had
performed an equally great service in rejecting the Presi-
dency of France. He approved the establishment of our re-
publican institutions, and hoped they would one day be a
model for the government of his own country. He recog-
nized the value of native institutions. So, while he was
loyal to freedom, he was likewise loyal to the Crown. In
moderation, in the gradual evolution of government and
society, he perceived the strongest defense against both
reaction and revolution, and the greatest hope for perma-
nent progress.

We have come here today to honor the memory of La-
fayette, because long ago he came to this country as a
private citizen at his own expense and joined us in fighting
for the maintenance and extension of our institutions. It
was not so much to acquire new rights, as to maintain old
rights, that the men of that day put their fortunes to the
hazard of war. They were resisting usurpations; they were

92 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

combating unlawful tyrannies. No doubt they wanted to
be Americans, but they wanted most of all to be free. They
believed in individual liberty, safeguarded by constitu-
tional guarantees. This principle to them was dearer than
life itself. What they fought to preserve and extend, we
ought to be ready to fight to maintain.

Very little danger exists of an open and avowed assault
upon the principle of individual freedom. It is more likely
to be in peril indirectly perhaps from the avowed intention
of protecting it or enlarging it. Out of a long experience
with many tyrannies abroad and a weak and inefficient gov-
ernment at home, the Constitution of the United States
was adopted and ratified. The people who largely contrib-
uted to the early settlement of America came to escape the
impositions of despotic kings. Many of the early inhabit-
ants were separatists from the established church. They
fled under the threat of the English King, that he would
make them conform or harry them out of the land. Their
descendants fought the Revolutionary war in order that
they might escape the impositions of a despotic parliament.

This lesson was firmly in the minds of those who made
the American Constitution. They proposed to adopt insti-
tutions under which the people should be supreme, and
the government should derive its just powers from the
consent of the governed. They were determined to be a
sovereign people under a government having such powers as
they from time to time should confer upon it by a written
constitution. They did not propose to be under the tyr-
anny of either the executive or the legislature.

They knew, however, that self-government is still gov-
ernment, and that the authority of the Constitution and
the law is still authority. They knew that a government
without power is a contradiction in terms. In order that
their President and their Congress might not surpass the
bounds of the authority granted to them, by the Constitu-

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE 93

tion which the people had made, and so infringe upon the
liberties of the people, they established a third independent
department of the government, with the power to interpret
and declare the Constitution and the law, the inferior
courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. No
President, however powerful, and no majority of Congress
however large, can take from an individual, no matter how
humble, that freedom and those rights which are guaran-
teed to him by the Constitution. The Supreme Court has
final authority to determine all questions arising under the
Constitution and laws of the United States.

That power and that authority has to reside somewhere
in every government. Originally it lay with the king.
After limitations began to be placed upon him, it was con-
ferred upon the parliamentary body. One of the great
contributions which America made to the science of govern-
ment was the establishment of an independent judiciary
department under which this authority resides in the Su-
preme Court. That tribunal has been made as independent
and impartial as human nature could devise. This action
was taken with the sole purpose of protecting the freedom
of the individual, of guarding his earnings, his home, his
life.

It is frequently charged that this tribunal is tyrannical.
If the Constitution of the United States be tyranny; if the
rule that no one shall be convicted of a crime save by a jury
of his peers; that no orders of nobility shall be granted;
that slavery shall not be permitted to exist in any state or
territory; that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty or
property without due process of law; if these and many
other provisions made by the people be tyranny, then the
Supreme Court when it makes decisions in accordance with
these principles of our fundamental law is tyrannical.
Otherwise it is exercising the power of government
for the preservation of liberty. The fact is that the Con-

94 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

stitution is the source of our freedom. Maintaining it,
interpreting it, and declaring it, are the only methods by
which the Constitution can be preserved and our liberties
guaranteed.

Somewhere must be lodged the power to declare the
Constitution. If it be taken away from the Court, it
must go either to the executive or the legislative branch
of the Government. No one, so far as I know, has thought
that it should go to the Executive. All those who advocate
changes propose, I believe, that it should be transferred
in whole or in part to the Congress. I have a very high
regard for legislative assemblies. We have put a very
great emphasis upon representative government. It is the
only method by which due deliberation can be secured.
That is a great safeguard of liberty. But the legislature is
not judicial. Along with what are admitted to be the
merits of the question, also what is supposed to be the
popular demand and the greatest partisan advantage weigh
very heavily in making legislative decisions. It is well
known that when the House of Representatives sits as a
judicial body, to determine contested elections, it has a
tendency to decide in a partisan way. It is to be remem-
bered also that under recent political practice there is a
strong tendency for legislatures to be very much influenced
by the Executive. Whether we like this practice or not,
there is no use denying that it exists. With a dominant
Executive and a subservient legislature, the opportunity
would be very inviting to aggrandizement -and very danger-
ous to liberty. That way leads toward imperialism.

Some people do not seem to understand fully the pur-
pose of our constitutional restraints. They are not for
protecting the majority, either in or out of the Congress.
They can protect themselves with their votes. We have
adopted a written constitution in order that the minority,
even down to the most insignificant individual, might have

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE 95

their rights protected. So long as our Constitution remains
in force, no majority, no matter how large, can deprive the
individual of the right of life, liberty or property, or pro-
hibit the free exercise of religion or the freedom of speech
or of the press. If the authority now vested in the Supreme
Court were transferred to the Congress, any majority no
matter what their motive could vote away any of these
most precious rights. Majorities are notoriously irresponsi-
ble. After irreparable damage had been done the only
remedy that the people would have would be the privilege
of trying to defeat such a majority at the next election.
Every minority body that may be weak in resources or un-
popular in the public estimation, also nearly every race and
religious belief, would find themselves practically without
protection, if the authority of the Supreme Court should
be broken down and its powers lodged with the Congress.

The same reasoning that applies to the individual person
applies to the individual state. A very broad twilight zone
exists in which it is difficult to distinguish where state right
ends and federal right begins. Deprived of the privilege
of its day in court, each state would be compelled to sub-
mit to the exactions of the Congress or resort to resistance
by force. On the other hand, the legislatures of states, and
sometimes the people, through the initiative and referen-
dum, may pass laws which are very injurious to the mi-
nority residents of that state, by attempting to take away
the privilege which they hold under the Federal Constitu-
tion. Except for the courts, such a minority would have
no remedy for wrong done them. Their ultimate refuge is
the Supreme Court of the United States.

At a time when all the world is seeking for the adjudi-
cation of differences between nations, not by war, but by
reason, the suggestion that we should limit the jurisdiction
of our domestic courts is reactionary in the highest degree.
It would cast aside the progress of generations to begin

96 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

again the contest for supremacy between executive and leg-
islature. Whichever side has won in that struggle, the
people have always lost.

Our Constitution has raised certain barriers against too
hasty change. I believe such provision is wise. I doubt if
there has been any change that has ever really been de-
sired by the people which they have not been able to secure.
Stability of government is a very important asset. If
amendment be made easy, both revolution and reaction, as
well as orderly progress, also become easy. The nation has
lost little, but has gained much, through the necessity of
due deliberation. The pressing need of the present day is
not to change our constitutional rights, but to observe our
constitutional rights.

A deliberate and determined effort is being made to
break down the guarantees of our fundamental law. It
has for its purpose the confiscation of property and the
destruction of liberty. At the present time the chief ob-
stacle to this effort is the Supreme Court of the United
States. In this contest there is but one place for a real
American to stand. That is on the side of ordered liberty
under constitutional government. This is not the struggle
of the rich and powerful. They will be able to survive. It
is the struggle of the common run of people. Unless we
can maintain our institutions of liberty unimpaired they
will see their savings swept away, their homes devastated,
and their children perish from want and hunger.

The time to stop those who would loosen and weaken
the fabric of our government is before they begin. The
time for Americans to range themselves firmly, squarely
and uncompromisingly behind American ideals is now. The
great body of our people have an abiding faith in their
own country. The time has come when they should sup-
plement that faith with action. The question is whether
America will allow itself to be degraded into a communistic

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE 97

and socialistic state, or whether it will remain American.
Those who want to continue to enjoy the high estate of
American citizenship will resist all attempts to encroach
upon their liberties by encroachment upon the power of the
courts.

The Constitution of the United States has for its almost
sole purpose the protection of the freedom of the people.
We must combat every attempt to break down or to make
it easy, under the pretended guise of legal procedure, to
throw open the way to reaction or revolution. To adopt
any other course is to put in jeopardy the sacred right to
life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

Lafayette was always an interested student of our affairs.
Though he distrusted the effort to make France a republic,
he believed greatly in our Republic and our Constitution.
He had fought to establish American independence, in order
that these might come into being. That independence to
which he contributed has come to be with us a national
axiom. We have always guarded it with the utmost jeal-
ousy. We have sought to strengthen it with the Monroe
Doctrine. We have refrained from treaties of offensive
and defensive alliance. We have kept clear from political
entanglements with other countries. Under this wise and
sound policy America has been a country on the whole
dedicated to peace, through honorable and disinterested
relations with the other peoples of the earth. We have
always been desirous not to participate in controversies,
but to compose them. What a success this has brought to
us at home, and what a place of respect and moral power
it has gained for us abroad, is known of all men.

To continue to be independent we must continue to be
whole-hearted American. We must direct our policies and
lay our course with the sole consideration of serving our
own people. We cannot become the partisans of one na-
tion, or the opponents of another. Our domestic affairs

98 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

should be entirely free from foreign interference, whether
such attempt be made by those who are without or within
our own territory. America is a large country. It is a tol-
erant country. It has room within its borders for many
races and many creeds. But it has no room for those who
would place the interests of some other nation above the
interests of our own nation.

To be independent to my mind does not mean to be iso-
lated, to be the priest or the Levite, but rather to be the
good Samaritan. There is no real independence save only
as we secure it through the law of service.

The course of our country in recent years has been an
example of these principles. We have avoided entangle-
ments by reserving to our own decision when and how we
should help. We have not failed to help. We have con-
tributed hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign charities.
We have given freely of our counsel to the settlement of
difficulties in Latin America and the adjustment of war
problems in Europe. We are still pursuing that course.
It has been a practical course, and it has secured practical
results. One of these most important results is found in
the disarmament treaties, which have saved our own coun-
try to date about $300,000,000, and likewise relieved other
nations. Another important result has been the adoption of
the Dawes plan for the settlement of reparations. The
effect these will have in averting war and promoting peace
cannot possibly be overestimated. They stand out as great
monuments, truly directing the course of men along the
way to more civilization, more enlightenment, and more
righteousness. They appear to me properly to mark the
end of the old order, and the beginning of a new era. We
hope they are the end of aggressive war and the beginning
of permanent peace.

Great changes have come over the world since Lafayette
first came here desirous of aiding the cause of freedom.

ORDERED LIBERTY AND WORLD PEACE 99

His efforts in behalf of an American republic have been al-
together successful. In no other country in the world was
economic opportunity for the people ever so great as it is
here. In no other country was it ever possible in a like
degree to secure equality and justice for all. Just as he
was passing off the stage, the British adopted their reform
measures giving them practically representative govern-
ment. His own France has long since been welcomed into
the family of republics. Many others have taken a like
course. The cause of freedom has been triumphant. We
believe it to be, likewise, the cause of peace.

But peace must have other guarantees than constitutions
and covenants. Laws and treaties may help, but peace and
war are attitudes of mind. American citizens, with the
full sympathy of our Government, have been attempting
with apparent success to restore stricken Europe. We have
acted in the name of world peace and of humanity. Always
the obstacles to be encountered have been distrust, sus-
picion and hatred. The great effort has been to allay and
remove these sentiments. I believe that America can as-
sist the world in this direction by her example. We have
never forgotten the service done us by Lafayette, but we
have long ago ceased to bear an enmity toward Great
Britain by reason of two wars that were fought out be-
tween us. We want Europe to compose its difficulties and
liquidate its hatreds. Would it not be well if we set the
example and liquidated some of our own? The war is over.
The militarism of Central Europe which menaced the se-
curity of the world has been overthrown. In its place have
sprung up peaceful republics. Already we have assisted
in refinancing Austria. We are about to assist refinancing
Germany. We believe that such action will be helpful to
France, but we can give further and perhaps even more
valuable assistance both to ourselves and to Europe by
bringing to an end our own hatreds. The best way for us

100 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

who wish all our inhabitants to be single-minded in their
Americanism is for us to bestow upon each group of our
inhabitants that confidence and fellowship which is due
to all Americans. If we want to get the hyphen out of our
country, we can best begin by taking it out of our own
minds. If we want France paid, we can best work towards
that end by assisting in the restoration of the German
people, now shorn of militarism, to their full place in the
family of peaceful mankind.

I want to see America set the example to the world both
in our domestic and foreign relations of magnanimity.

We cannot make over the people of Europe. We must
help them as they are, if we are to help them at all. I
believe that we should help, not at the sacrifice of our in-
dependence, not for the support of imperialism, but to re-
store to those great peoples a peaceful civilization. In that
course lies the best guarantee of freedom. In that course
lies the greatest honor which we can bestow upon the mem-
ory of Lafayette.

XII

Our conception of authority, of law and liberty,
of property and service, ought not to be that
they imply rules of action for the mere benefit
of someone else, but that they are primarily for
the benefit of ourselves. The Government sup-
ports them in order that the people may enjoy
them.

AUTHORITY AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Something in all human beings makes them want to
do the right thing. Not that this desire always prevails;
oftentimes it is overcome and they turn towards evil. But
some power is constantly calling them back. Ever there
comes a resistance to wrongdoing. When bad conditions
begun to accumulate, when the forces of darkness become
prevalent, always they are ultimately doomed to fail, as
the better angels of human nature are roused to resistance.

Your great demonstration which marks this day in the
City of Washington is only representative of many like
observances extending over our own country and into other
lands, so that it makes a truly world-wide appeal. It is a
manifestation of the good in human nature which is of
tremendous significance. More than six centuries ago, when
in spite of much learning and much piety there was much
ignorance, much wickedness and much warfare, when there
seemed to be too little light in the world, when the condi-
tion of the common people appeared to be sunk in hope-
lessness, when most of life was rude, harsh and cruel, when
the speech of men was too often profane and vulgar, until
the earth rang with the tumult of those who took the name
of the Lord in vain, the foundation of this day was laid in
the formation of the Holy Name Society. It had an in-
spired purpose. It sought to rededicate the minds of the
people to a true conception of the sacredness of the name
of the Supreme Being. It was an effort to save all refer-
ence to the Deity from curses and blasphemy, and restore

Address before the Holy Name Society, Washington, D. C, September
21, 1924.

103

104 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the lips of men to reverence and praise. Out of weakness
there began to be strength; out of frenzy there began to
be self-control; out of confusion there began to be order.
This demonstration is a manifestation of the wide extent
to which an effort to do the right thing will reach when it
is once begun. It is a purpose which makes a universal
appeal, an effort in which all may unite.

The importance of the lesson which this Society was
formed to teach would be hard to overestimate. Its main
purpose is to impress upon the people the necessity for rev-
erence. This is the beginning of a proper conception of
ourselves, of our relationship to each other, and our rela-
tionship to our Creator. Human nature cannot develop
very far without it. The mind does not unfold, the crea-
tive faculty does not mature, the spirit does not expand,
save under the influence of reverence. It is the chief mo-
tive of an obedience. It is only by a correct attitude of
mind begun early in youth and carried through maturity
that these desired results are likely to be secured. It is
along the path of reverence and obedience that the race
has reached the goal of freedom, of self-government, of a
higher morality, and a more abundant spiritual life.

Out of a desire that there may be a progress in these
directions, with all that such progress means, this great
Society continues its efforts. It recognizes that whoever
has an evil tongue cannot have a pure mind. We read
that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak-
eth." This is a truth which is worthy of much thought.
He who gives license to his tongue only discloses the con-
tents of his own mind. By the excess of his words he pro-
claims his lack of discipline. By his very violence he shows
his weakness. The youth or man who by disregarding this
principle thinks he is displaying his determination and reso-
lution and emphasizing his statements is in reality only re-
vealing an intellectual poverty, a deficiency in self-control

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 105

and self-respect, a want of accurate thinking and of spirit-
ual insight, which cannot come save from a reverence for
the truth. There are no human actions which are unim-
portant, none to which we can be indifferent. All of them
lead either towards destruction and death, or towards con-
struction and life.

To my mind, the great strength of your Society lies in its
recognition of the necessity of discipline. We live in an
impatient age. We demand results, and demand them at
once. We find a long and laborious process very irksome,
and are constantly seeking for a short cut. But there is no
easy method of securing discipline. It is axiomatic that
there is no royal road to learning. The effort for discipline
must be intensive, and to a considerable degree it must be
lifelong. But it is absolutely necessary, if there is to be
any self-direction or any self-control. The worst evil that
could be inflicted upon the youth of the land would be to
leave them without restraint and completely at the mercy
of their own uncontrolled inclinations. Under such condi-
tions education would be impossible, and all orderly devel-
opment intellectually or morally would be hopeless. I do
not need to picture the result. We know too well what
weakness and depravity follow when the ordinary processes
of discipline are neglected.

Yet the world has never thoroughly learned this lesson
It has never been willing entirely to acknowledge this
principle. One of the greatest needs of the present day is
the establishment and recognition of standards, and holding
ourselves up to their proper observance. This cannot be
done without constant effort and it will meet constant op-
position. Always there have been those who fail to recog-
nize this necessity. Their opposition to it and their philoso-
phy of life were well expressed by Robert Burns in that
poem which describes the carousings of a collection of vaga-
bonds, where one of them gave his views:

106 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

"A fig for those by law protected !
Liberty's a glorious feast !
Courts for cowards were erected,
Churches built to please the priest."

That character clearly saw no use for discipline, and just
as clearly found his reward in the life of an outcast. The
principles which he proclaimed could not lead in any other
direction. Vice and misery were their natural and inevit-
able consequences. He refused to recognize or obey any
authority, save his own material inclinations. He never
rose above his appetites. Your Society stands as a protest
against this attitude of mind.

But there are altogether too many in the world who con-
sciously or unconsciously do hold those views and follow
that example. I believe such a position arises from a mis-
conception of the meaning of life. They seem to think
that authority means some kind of an attempt to force
action upon them which is not for their own benefit, but for
the benefit of others. To me they do not appear to under-
stand the nature of law, and therefore refuse obedience.
They misinterpret the meaning of individual liberty, and
therefore fail to attain it. They do not recognize the right
of property, and therefore do not come into its possession.
They rebel at the idea of service, and therefore lack the
fellowship and cooperation of others. Our conception of
authority, of law and liberty, of property and service, ought
not to be that they imply rules of action for the mere
benefit of someone else, but that they are primarily for the
benefit of ourselves. The Government supports them in
order that the people may enjoy them.

Our American government was the result of an effort to
establish institutions under which the people as a whole
should have the largest possible advantages. Class and
privilege were outlawed, freedom and opportunity were

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 107

guaranteed. They undertook to provide conditions under
which service would be adequately rewarded, and where
the people would own their own property and control their
own government. They had no other motive. They were
actuated by no other purpose. If we are to maintain what
they established, it is important to understand the founda-
tion on which they built, and the claims by which they
justified the sovereign rights and royal estate of every
American citizen.

They did not deny the existence of authority. They
recognized it and undertook to abide by it, and through
obedience to it secure their freedom. They made their
appeal and rested their cause not merely upon earthly
authority, but in the very first paragraph of the Declara-
tion of Independence asserted that they proposed "to as-
sume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God en-
title them." And as they closed that noble document in
which they submitted their claims to the opinions of man-
kind they again revealed what they believed to be the ulti-
mate source of authority by stating that they were also
"appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rec-
titude of" . . . their "intentions."

When finally our Constitution was adopted, it contained
specific provision that the President and members of the
Congress and of state legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officials, should be qualified for the discharge
of their office by oath or affirmation. By the statute
law of the United States, and I doubt not by all
States, such oaths are administered by a solemn appeal
to God for help in the keeping of their covenants. I
scarcely need to refer to the fact that the houses of the
Congress, and so far as I know the state legislatures, open
their daily sessions with prayer. The foundation of our
independence and our Government rests upon our basic

108 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

religious convictions. Back of the authority of our laws is
the authority of the Supreme Judge of the World, to whom
we still appeal for their final justification.

The Constitution and laws of our country are adopted
and enacted through the direct action of the people, or
through their duly chosen representatives. They reflect
the enlightened conscience of our country. They ought
always to speak with the true and conscientious voice of
the people. Such voice has from time immemorial had the
authority of divine sanction. In their great fundamentals
they do not change. As new light arrives they may be
altered in their details, but they represent the best that
we know at any given time. To support the Constitution,
to observe the laws, is to be true to our own higher nature.
That is the path, and the only path, towards liberty. To
resist them and violate them is to become enemies to our-
selves and instruments of our own destruction. That is the
path towards servitude. Obedience is not for the protec-
tion of someone else, but for the protection of ourselves.
It needs to be remembered that it has to be secured not
through the action of others, but through our own actions.
Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is in-
dividual liberty.

Coincident with the right of individual liberty under the
provisions of our Government is the right of individual
property. The position which the individual holds in the
conception of American institutions is higher than that
ever before attained anywhere else on earth. It is ac-
knowledged and proclaimed that he has sovereign powers.
It is declared that he is endowed with inalienable rights
which no majority, however great, and no power of the
Government, however broad, can ever be justified in vio-
lating. 'The principle of equality is recognized. It follows
inevitably from belief in the brotherhood of man through
the fatherhood of God. When once the right of the in-

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 109

dividual to liberty and equality is admitted, there is no
escape from the conclusion that he alone is entitled to the
rewards of his own industry. Any other conclusion would
necessarily imply either privilege or servitude. Here again
the right of individual property is for the protection of
society.

When service is performed, the individual performing it
is entitled to the compensation for it. His creation becomes
a part of himself. It is his property. To attempt to deal
with persons or with property in a communistic or social-
istic way is to deny what seems to me to be this plain fact.
Liberty and equality require that equal compensation shall
be paid for equal service to the individual who performs it.
Socialism and communism cannot be reconciled with the
principles which our institutions represent. They are en-
tirely foreign, entirely un-American. We stand wholly
committed to the policy that what the individual produces
belongs entirely to him to be used by him for the benefit
of himself, to provide for his own family and to enable him
to serve his fellow men.

Of course we are all aware that the recognition of broth-
erhood brings in the requirement of charity. But it is
only on the basis of individual property that there can be
any charity. Our very conception of the term means that
we deny ourselves of what belongs to us, in order to give
it to another. If that which we give is not really our own,
but belongs to the person to whom we give it, such an act
may rightfully be called justice, but it cannot be regarded
as charity.

Our conceptions of liberty under the law are not narrow
and cramped, but broad and tolerant. Our Constitution
guarantees civil, political and religious liberty; fully, com-
pletely and adequately; and provides that ano religious
test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
or public trust under the United States." This is the es-

110 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

sence of freedom and toleration solemnly declared in the
fundamental law of the land.

These are some of our American standards. These prin-
ciples, in the province to which they relate, bestow upon
the people all there is to bestow. They recognize in the
people all that there is to recognize. They are the ulti-
mates. There is no beyond. They are solely for the benefit
and advantage of all the people. If any change is made
in these principles it will not be by giving more to the
people, but by taking from them something of that which
they now have. It cannot be progress. It must be re-
action. I do not say that we, as citizens, have always held
ourselves to a proper observance of these standards towards
each other, but we have nevertheless established them and
declared our duty to be obedience to them. This is the
American ideal of ordered liberty under the law. It calls
for rigid discipline.

What a wide difference between the American position
and that imagined by the vagabond who thought of lib-
erty as a glorious feast unprotected and unregulated by
law. This is not civilization, but a plain reversion to the
life of the jungle. Without the protection of the law, and
the imposition of its authority, equality cannot be main-
tained, liberty disappears and property vanishes. This is
anarchy. The forces of darkness are traveling in that di-
rection. But the spirit of America turns its face towards
the light.

That spirit I have faith will prevail. America is not go-
ing to abandon its principles or desert its ideals. The
foundation on which they are built will remain firm. I
believe that the principle which your organization repre-
sents is their main support. It seems to me perfectly plain
that the authority of law, the right to equality, liberty and
property, under American institutions, have for their foun-
dation reverence for God. If we could imagine that to be

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 111

swept away, these institutions of our American govern-
ment could not long survive. But that reverence will not
fail. It will abide. Unnumbered organizations of which
your own is one exist for its promotion. In the inevitable
longing of the human soul to do right is the secure guaran-
tee of our American institutions. By maintaining a society
to promote reverence for the Holy Name you are perform-
ing both a pious and a patriotic service.

We Americans are idealists. We are willing to follow
the truth solely because it is the truth. We put our main
emphasis on the things which are spiritual. While we pos-
sess an unsurpassed skill in marshalling and using the ma-
terial resources of the world, still the nation has not sought
for wealth and power as an end but as a means to a higher
life.

Yet Americans are not visionary, they are not senti-
mentalists. They want idealism, but they want it to be
practical, they want it to produce results. It would be little
use to try to convince them of the soundness and righteous-
ness of their institutions, if they could not see that they
have been justified in the past history and the present con-
dition of the people. They estimate the correctness of the
principle by the success which they find in their own ex-
perience. They have faith but they want works.

The fame of the advantages which accrue to the inhabit-
ants of our country has spread throughout the world. If
we doubt the high estimation in which these opportunities
are held by other peoples, it is only necessary to remember
that they sought them in such numbers as to require our
own protection by restrictive immigration. I am aware
that our country and its institutions are often the subject
of censure. I grieve to see them misrepresented for selfish
and destructive aims. But I welcome candid criticism,
which is moved by a purpose to promote the public welfare.
But while we should always strive for improvement by liv-

112 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ing in more complete harmony with out ideals, we should
not permit incidental failure or unwarranted blame to
obscure the fact that the people of our country have secured
the greatest success that was ever before experienced in
human history.

The evidence of this is all about us, in our wealth, our
educational facilities, our charities, our religious institu-
tions, and in the moral influence which we exert on the
world. Most of all, it is apparent in the unexampled
place which is held by the people who toil. Our inhabitants
are especially free to promote their own welfare. They are
unburdened by militarism. They are not called upon to
support any imperialistic designs. Every mother can rest
in the assurance that her children will find here a land of
devotion, prosperity and peace. The tall shaft near which
we are gathered and yonder stately memorial remind us
that our standards of manhood are revealed in the adora-
tion which we pay to Washington and Lincoln. They are
unrivaled and unsurpassed. Above all else, they are Amer-
icans. The institutions of our country stand justified
both in reason and in experience. I am aware that they
will continue to be assailed. But I know they will con-
tinue to stand. We may perish, but they will endure.
They are founded on the Rock of Ages.

XIII I

The governments of the past could fairly be
characterized as devices for maintaining in
perpetuity the place and position of certain
privileged classes, without any ultimate pro-
tection for the rights of the people. The Gov- j;
ernment of the United States is a device for
maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the peo-
ple, with the ultimate extinction of all privi- ..

■

i

\t

A FREE REPUBLIC

No American coming to Philadelphia on this anniversary
could escape being thrilled at the thought of what this
commemoration means. It brings to mind events, which
in the course of the century and a half that has passed
since the day we are celebrating, have changed the course
of human history. Then was formed the ideal of the
American nation. Two years later this was put into prac-
tical effect by the Declaration of Independence. Here too
was prepared and adopted the Federal Constitution, guar-
anteeing unity and perpetuation of our national life. The
place of this imperial city in history is secure.

Your heritage has that mysterious quality by which it
has enriched not only your own citizens, but the people of
the earth. Wherever we find a nation which has gained
its liberty, which has shaken itself free from despotism
and established a republic, there reigns the influence with
which the exalted record of your achievements has directed
the destiny of the world.

We cannot do justice to the memory of the men and work
of the first Continental Congress without recalling events
which preceded it and recognizing the consequences which
followed it. The first important act of cooperation among
the Colonies had resulted from their need for common
defense in the French and Indian War two decades earlier.
Even prior to that various royal Governors had proposed
some union of the Colonies under a viceroy. But this
meant a weakening of the local and popular assemblies and

At Philadelphia, Sept. 25th, 1924, on the anniversary of the first Conti-
nental Congress.

115

116 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

a broader and more effective control by the Crown. Such
proposals were resisted by the inhabitants, who were ex-
tremely jealous of their liberties. As far back as 1754 a
colonial conference was held at Albany on the initiation of
the Governors. Only a minority, however, attended. At
that time Benjamin Franklin, with a prophetic vision,
proposed a plan of union which bore a remarkable resem-
blance to our present Constitution. But the people feared
this would destroy their local government, leaving them at
the mercy of a distant Parliament, while the English au-
thorities feared that by revealing to the Colonies an ac-
curate knowledge of their own power it would inspire am-
bitions for independence. So the plan of Franklin at that
time found no support on either side of the Atlantic.

But the idea grew. When the English Government en-
tered upon a course which threatened the liberties of the
Colonies by passing the Stamp Act and the Boston Port
Act, by interfering with the local Assemblies, by suspend-
ing the writ of habeas corpus, by maintaining a standing
army quartered on the people, by denying to the inhabi-
tants the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage, by under-
taking to make judicial officers the creatures of the Crown,
and other unwarranted tyrannies, the first Continental
Congress was assembled to register a solemn protest against
these illegal exactions.

They came with various credentials from local Assem-
blies and voluntary conventions, scarcely representing the
people in a legal way but reflecting their spirit in the de-
termination to defend their liberties. It was no ordinary
gathering. Among them were Jay and Livingston, Gallo-
way and Mifflin, Biddle and Chase, Harrison, Lee, Ran-
dolph, the Rutledges, the Adamses, and finally, George
Washington. They were men of faith. They believed in
their cause. They trusted the people. They doubted not
that a Higher Power would support them in their effort for

A FREE REPUBLIC 117

right and freedom. Judged by the character of the state
papers which they produced, and by their later careers in
the field or at the council table, after 150 years they still
rank as a most remarkable gathering of men. Their de-
liberations and actions are worthy of the most careful study
by the American people. If we could better understand
what they said and did to establish our free institutions, we
should be less likely to be misled by the misrepresentations
and distorted arguments of the hour, and be far better
equipped to maintain them.

The Colonists claimed certain rights of self-government.
They were determined to maintain that principle. The
burdens which resulted from the pretentions of King
George and his ministers, and the exactions of Parliament,
were not of great consequence and could be borne, but
the principle which the people declared was of supreme
importance. To acquiesce even in minor violations was to
admit that a course of action might be taken which would
deprive them of the chartered rights of Englishmen and
reduce them to mere subjects. But in their resistance they
resorted neither to threats nor extreme measures, but pur-
sued the dignified, stronger and unanswerable course of
moderation. The Congress prepared a petition to the King,
an address to the people of the Colonies, an address to the
people of England, and an address to the people of Quebec.
While they protested vigorously against their grievances,
they protested also a loyalty to the Crown and a pride in
the Empire. They declared they were supporting the com-
mon cause of liberty, both of the Colonies and England
itself.

"May not a ministry with the same armies enslave you?"
they asked the English people. "Do not treat this as chim-
erical. Know that in less than half a century, the quit-rents
reserved to the Crown from the numberless grants of this
vast continent, will pour large streams of wealth into the

118 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

royal coffers, and if to this be added the power of taxing
America at pleasure, the Crown will be rendered independ-
ent of you for supplies, and will possess more treasure than
will be necessary to purchase the remains of liberty in your
Island. In a word, take care that you do not fall into the
pit that is preparing for us."

No wonder such a statement aroused the sympathy for
the Colonial cause of such broad and liberal statesmen as
Pitt and Burke.

But to the Crown and to the traditions of English liberty
it contained only expressions of loyalty. The address to
King George was an explicit and unmistakable document,
but it closed with these words of loyal devotion: "That
Your Majesty may enjoy every felicity through a long
and glorious reign over loyal and happy subjects, and that
your descendants may inherit your prosperity and domin-
ions till time shall be no more, is and always will be our
sincere and fervent prayer." They indulged in no bluster,
no threats, and no departures from the proprieties of a peti-
tion to the throne. But they had no hesitation about mak-
ing a plain statement of the truth, because they politely
observed, "as Your Majesty enjoys the signal distinction of
reigning over freemen, we apprehend the language of free-
men cannot be displeasing."

But the Congress did not confine itself to addresses and
petitions. It wished not only to win the approbation of
the opinion of the world, but to prove its right to speak for
the Colonies. It was necessary to show that they were
capable of a united action, both powerful and effective.
Therefore, they adopted the policy of non-intercourse
under an agreement known as "The Association." By it
they pledged themselves not to import, export or consume.
British products were not to be brought in after December
1, 1774. The importation of slaves was to cease. A few
months later trade with the West Indies was to be sus-

A FREE REPUBLIC 119

pended. Exports to Great Britain and Ireland were pro-
hibited. Merchants refusing to adopt these boycott agree-
ments were to feel the boycott of the people. The produc-
tion and manufacture of wool was to be encouraged. Local
committees were to enforce these proposals by the power
of public opinion. The Association enjoined frugality thus:
"We will . . . discountenance and discourage every species
of extravagance and dissipation, especially all horse-
racing, and all kinds of gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions
of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and enter-
tainents. . . ."

The non-intercourse agreement was to continue until
Parliament repealed the objectionable laws. This bold
measure was denounced by many in England as treasonable,
but it has often been referred to in this country as the
beginning of the movement for independence. Where ap-
peals and supplications had been disregarded, this could
not fail to secure earnest attention.

In the declarations of the Congress there was no note
of defiance, but their very moderation increased their in-
fluence. The vigor of their argument and the logic of their
legal position were relied upon to defend their cause. While
there was a growing feeling that conflict impended, the
Congress carefully avoided anything that could be dis-
torted into provocation for a resort to arms. Here was
the great strength of their position. Because of their re-
straint they secured the confidence of the most influential
forces at home and abroad. They promoted union among
the Colonies while promoting dissension in England. They
compelled the sympathy of the great Whig leaders, who
could not support liberty in England while denying it in
the Colonies.

It would be difficult to find a better illustration of the
superiority of moderation and candor over violence and
deceit in seeking a solution of difficult public questions.

120 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

It is easy to draw broad indictments or indulge in sweep-
ing promises. It is no trouble to indulge in invective. But
denunciation does not provide a remedy. In moderation
and restraint is much more likely to be found a way to agree-
ment upon constructive measures. Appeals to violence and
hatred in the first Continental Congress might have pro-
duced a rebellion, but they could not have accomplished
revolution. They might have led to war, but they could
not have secured victory.

Almost all our history as an independent and united
nation can be traced back to the assembling of the first
Continental Congress, which we are met to celebrate. Our
achievements have been wrought by adherence to its pol-
icies of reason and restraint, accompanied by firmness and
determination. We are not likely to desert that course of
action now.

The case which the Congress stated was unanswerable.
One side or the other must either give way or maintain
its position by force of arms. That conflict for which the
Congress had laid the logical foundation was not long in
beginning. Liberty never won a more substantial and far-
reaching victory than that which resulted from our Revo-
lutionary War. It established the American Nation, with
all that it has since meant in the accomplishments of the
world and all that it holds of future promise. A form of
government was organized in harmony with what Franklin
had proposed at Albany in 1754. But the Constitution was
not adopted until various experiments with unworkable
systems showed some such action necessary. Whatever
may be the reputation of that great instrument at home,
modified and adapted to local needs, it has been adopted
as the fundamental law for republics in every quarter of
the world. The influence of that great document, framed
in Philadelphia in 1787, can be traced in every constitu-
tion on earth, from China to Peru, from the Australian

A FREE REPUBLIC 121

commonwealth to the German republic. They all bear the
same testimony.

The idea of a republic was not new, but the practical
working out of such a form of government under separate
and independent, and yet well-balanced departments, was
a very new thing in the world. The governments of the
past could fairly be characterized as devices for maintain-
ing in perpetuity the place and position of certain priv-
ileged classes, without any ultimate protection for the rights
of the people. The Government of the United States is a
device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the
people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged
classes. It is a Constitution which is the product of hu-
man experience with all its toil and suffering, its blood-
shed and devastation, its oppression and tyranny, but like-
wise with all its wisdom, its love of liberty and its deter-
mination to follow the truth. The first Continental Con-
gress met to redress grievances which were the result of
government action. The Revolution was fought to resist
those same grievances. And finally, the Constitution was
adopted to prevent similar impositions from ever again
being inflicted upon the people.

They are all in that precious document, these priceless
guarantees. The people do not propose again to entrust
their government to others, but to retain it under their
own control. No one can tax them or even propose a tax
upon them, save themselves and their own representatives.
Instead of encroaching upon local Assemblies, it guarantees
each state a republican form of government. It regulates
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. It protects the
home from the uninvited intrusion of the military force of
the Government. It guards the right of jury trial and un-
dertakes to make judicial officers independent, impartial
and free from every motive to follow any influence save that
of the evidence, the law and the truth. These are repre-

122 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

sentative of the great body of our liberties, of which the
Constitution is the sole source and guarantee.

Ours, as you know, is a government of limited powers.
The Constitution confers the authority for certain actions
upon the President and the Congress, and explicitly pro-
hibits them from taking other actions. This is done to
protect the rights and liberties of the people. The Govern-
ment is limited, only the people are absolute. Whenever
the legislative or executive power undertakes to overstep
the bounds of its limitations, any person who is injured may
resort to the courts for protection and remedy. We do not
submit the precious rights of the people to the hazard of a
prejudiced and irresponsible political determination, but
preserve and protect them by an independent and impar-
tial judicial determination. We do not expose the rights
of the weak to the danger of being overcome in the public
forum by popular uproar, but protect them in the sanctity
of the courtroom, where the still, small voice will not fail
to be heard. Any attempt to change this method of proced-
ure is an attempt to put the people again in jeopardy of
the impositions and the tyrannies from which the first
Continental Congress sought to deliver them. The only
position that Americans can take is that they are against
all despotism whether it emanate from a monarch, from
a parliament, or from a mob.

A significant circumstance of the first Congress, one
which ought never to be overlooked, lies in the fact that it
resulted from the voluntary effort on the part of the people
to redress their own grievances and remedy their own
wrongs. We pay too little attention to the reserve power
of the people to take care of themselves. We are too
solicitous for government intervention, on the theory, first,
that the people themselves are helpless, and second, that
the Government has superior capacity for action. Often
times both of these conclusions are wrong.

A FREE REPUBLIC 123

Everyone knows that our economic problems are very
far from being solved. But we are making constant prog-
ress, both in the field of production and distribution. When
certain abuses arose, we adopted a policy of government
regulation and control. I have no doubt that some action
of that kind was necessary, and of course such a policy
would be continued. But it has not been, nor can it be
hoped that it will be, always wisely administered. While
it provides some defence against wrongdoing, its restrictions
often hamper development and progress, retard enterprise,
and when they fail to produce the perfection promised
tend to bring the Government into discredit. The real
fact is that in a republic like ours the people are the gov-
ernment, and if they cannot secure perfection in their own
economic life it is altogether improbable that the Govern-
ment can secure it for them. The same human nature
which presides over private enterprise must be employed
for public action.

It is very difficult to reconcile the American ideal of a
sovereign people capable of owning and managing their
own government with an inability to own and manage their
own business. No doubt there are certain municipalities
where some public utilities have been managed through
public ownership with a creditable success. But this is
very different from a proposal that the National Govern-
ment should take over railroads and other public utilities.
What a strain this would be to our economic svstem will be
realized when it is remembered that public commissions
set the value of such utilities at about $35,000,000,000, and
that they have about 2,750,000 employees. Such an under-
taking would mean about $1,750,000,000 annually in bond
interest, and an operating budget estimated at about
$9,000,000,000. These utilities are no longer in the hands
of a few, directly or indirectly. They are owned by scores
of millions of our inhabitants. It would mean a loss in

124 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

public revenue estimated at $600,000,000 la year, and while
in industrial states it might not increase the tax on the
farmer more than 3% or 4%, in many agricultural counties
it would run as high as 40%. When we recall the appalling
loss and the difficulty in the management of $3,500,000,000
worth of ships, we should undoubtedly hesitate about tak-
ing on ten times that value in public utilities. But this is
no occasion to discuss the details of public ownership.

I have mentioned the desirability for the people to keep
control of their own Government and their own property,
because I believe that is one of the American ideals of pub-
lic welfare in harmony with the efforts of the first Con-
tinental Congress. They objected to small infractions,
which would destroy great principles of liberty. Unless we
can maintain the integrity of the courts, where the indi-
vidual can secure his rights, any kind of tyranny may fol-
low. If the people lose control of the arteries of trade
and the natural sources of mechanical power, the nation-
alization of all industry could soon be expected. Our
forefathers were alert to resist all encroachments upon
their rights. If we wish to maintain our rights, we can
do no less. Through the breaking down of the power of
the courts lies an easy way to the confiscation of the prop-
erty and the destruction of the liberty of the individual.
With railways and electrical utilities under political control,
the domination of a group would be so firmly intrenched in
the whole direction of our Government, that the privilege
of citizenship for the rest of the people would consist largely
in the payment of taxes. The Fathers sought to escape
from any such condition, through the guarantees of our
Constitution. They put their faith in a free republic. If
we wish to maintain what they established, we shall do
well to leave the people in the ownership of their property,
in control of their Government, and under the protection

mam

A FREE REPUBLIC 125

of their courts. By a resolute determination to resist all
these encroachments we can best show our reverence and
appreciation for the men and the work of the first Con-
tinental Congress.

^MMMHM

unr

XIV

There is a place both present and future in
America for true, dean sport. We do not rank
it above business, the occupations of our lives,
and we do not look with approval upon those
who, not being concerned in its performance,
spend all their thought, energy and time upon
its observance. We recognize, however, that
there is something more in life than the grinding
routine of daily toil, that we can develop a better
manhood and womanhood, a more attractive
youth, and a wiser maturity, by rounding out
our existence with a wholesome interest in sport.

HH_BBBBH_^_a__«BH^B__HH_^B__BaHLrYS

J.

GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP

As the head of an enterprise which transacts some busi-
ness and maintains a considerable staff in this town, I
have a double satisfaction in welcoming home the victori-
ous Washington Baseball Team. First, you bring the
laurels from one of the hardest fought contests in all the
history of the national game. Second, I feel hopeful that
with this happy result now assured it will be possible for
the people of Washington gradually to resume interest in
the ordinary concerns of life. So long as we could be satis-
fied with a prompt report of the score by innings, a rea-
sonable attention to business was still possible. But when
the entire population reached the point of requiring the
game to be described play by play, I began to doubt whether
the highest efficiency was being promoted. I contemplated
action of a vigorously disciplinary character, but the out-
come makes it impossible. As a result we are a somewhat
demoralized community — but exceedingly happy over it.

It may be that at some time in the past a baseball pen-
nant has gone to as widely popular a winner as your team is
today. If so, it was in some year when I was not watch-
ing the score by innings. Tuesday morning, when I had
finished reading details of the decisive battle of Boston and
turned to the affairs of government, I found on top of
everything else on my desk a telegram which I shall read
to you. Whether or not I shall be able to act on its advice,
many will agree that it presents a correct, constructive
and statesmanlike program for dealing with the present

At the Zero Milestone, Washington, D. C, in welcoming home the
Baseball Team, October 1, 1924.

129

130 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

emergency. I have received worse suggestions on more
important affairs. It is from a true and thoughtful friend
of the people, Congressman John F. Miller, of Seattle. He
wires:

"Respectfully suggest it is your patriotic duty to call
special session of Congress beginning Saturday, October
4th, so the members of Congress may have an opportunity
to sneak out and see Walter Johnson make baseball history.
Cannot speak for New York delegation, but hereby pledge
all others to root for Washington, and serve without pay or
traveling expenses."

Mr. Miller has such judgment and his sense of public
psychology is so accurate that I do not need to say what
party he represents.

The Washington team won because it deserved to win.
It had fought gamely, year after year, for a place at the
front; never discouraged, always sure that better things
were ahead. Now it appears to have annexed the whole
country, with the enthusiastic approval of nearly all con-
cerned. Aside from two or three groups of earnest young
men who were willing to accept the championship, the
whole country seems agreed that precisely the right thing
has happened. That is a real compliment to the fine spirit,
the clean play, the good sportsmanship that brought your
victory. These have always been characteristics of the
work of the Washington team. They have earned for it
the affection of the "home town" constituency and the
regard of baseball followers throughout the country. Clean
sport crowned with victory is a most wholesome sight. I
trust it will always be representative of America.

You have come home to receive the plaudits of your
city, and to prepare for the greater competition of the
World Series. We are all agreed, at least in theory, to the
sentiment, "May the best team win." But I want to add
that your fellow townsmen of Washington do not need to

MMMi^Bm

MBU

GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP 131

be told which they regard as the best team. They hold
firm convictions about it. And in that full confidence in
which the President is privileged to speak when only the
public is listening, I may say that I have my opinion about
it. I hope the results of the World Series will show we all
are right. I know it will show a continuation of clean
sport.

Manager Harris, I am directed by a group of your
Washington fellow citizens to present to you for the Club
this loving cup. It is a symbol of deep and genuine senti-
ment. It is committed to you and your team-mates in tes-
timony of the feelings that all Washington has for you.
With it go the heartiest congratulations on victory already
won, and every wish for your success in the contest which
is still ahead of you.

There is a place both present and future in America for
true, clean sport. We do not rank it above business, the
occupations of our lives, and we do not look with approval
upon those who, not being concerned in its performance,
spend all their thought, energy and time upon its observ-
ance. We recognize, however, that there is something more
in life than the grinding routine of daily toil, that we can
develop a better manhood and womanhood, a more attrac-
tive youth, and a wiser maturity, by rounding out our
existence with a wholesome interest in sport.

To those who devote themselves to this enterprise in
a professional way and by throwing their whole being into
it raise it to the level of an art, the country owes a debt
of gratitude. They furnish us with amusement, with an
outside interest, oftentimes in the open air, that quickens
the step, refreshes the mind, rejuvenates and restores us.
We pitch with the pitchers, we go to bat with the batters,
and make a home run with the hard hitters. The training,
the energy, the intelligence which these men lavish upon
their profession ought to be an inspiration for a like effort in

132 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

every walk of life. They are a great band, these armored
knights of the bat and ball. They are held up to a high stan-
dard of honor on the field, which they have seldom betrayed.
While baseball remains our national game our national
tastes will be on a higher level and our national ideals on
a firmer foundation. By bringing the baseball pennant to
Washington, you have made the National Capital more
truly the center of worthy and honorable national aspira-
tions.

XV

The great truth cannot be too often repeated
that this nation is exactly what the people
make it.

ill
II ;

111

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE

We meet to dedicate a monument to the memory of the
men of the First Division of the American Expeditionary
Forces, who gave their lives in battle for their country.
Their surviving comrades bestow this gift upon the Nation.
It bears mute but enduring testimony of an affectionate
regard for those who made the great sacrifice. This beauti-
ful and stately shaft represents no spirit of self-glorifica-
tion. It is a tribute of reverence and sorrow to nearly
5,000 of our immortal dead from those who knew and loved
them. The figure of winged victory rises above the scrolls
of imperishable bronze on which are inscribed alone the
ennobled names of those who fell and through their death-
less valor left us free. Other soldiers, generals and privates,
officers and men, rank on rank, of illustrious fame are un-
recorded here. They live. The dead reign here alone.

This memorial stands as a testimony of how the members
of the First Division looked upon the War. They did not
regard it as a national or personal opportunity for gain or
fame or glory, but as a call to sacrifice for the support of
humane principles and spiritual ideals. This monument
commemorates no man who won anything by the war. It
ministers to no aspiration for place or power. But it chal-
lenges attention to the cost, suffering and sacrifice that may
be demanded of any generation, so long as nations permit
a resort to war to settle their disputes. It is a symbol of
awful tragedy, of unending sorrow, and of stern warning.
Relieved of all attendant considerations, the final lesson

At Washington, October 4, 1924, dedicating the monument to the First
Division, A. E. F.

135

136 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

which it imparts is the blessing of peace, the supreme
blessing of peace with honor.

^The First Division has the notable record of being the
first to enter France and the last to leave Germany. Hur-
riedly assembled, largely from Regular Army units, its first
four regiments landed at Saint-Nazaire at the end of June,
1917, the advance guard which in a little more than a year
was to be swelled to the incredible force of two millions.
It had two battalions in the Grand Parade of July 4th in
Paris, when tradition claims that a great American Com-
mander laid our wreath at the tomb of the great French-
man with a salutation which was short but all-embracing
in its eloquence: "Lafayette, we are here." Other units,
mostly from those who served in Mexico, made the Division
so cosmopolitan that it represented every state and all the
possessions of the Union. It was comprehensively and
truly American.

After short and intensive preparation the Division was
ordered from the Gondrecourt training area to the Som-
merville sector, where on October 23rd the first American
shot was fired. On October 25th the first American officer
was wounded, and two days later the first prisoner was
taken. On the night of November 2nd Corporal James B.
Gresham and Privates Thomas F. Enright and Merle D.
Hay, killed when their trenches were raided, were the first
Americans lost in the war. In January, 1918, the Division
was removed to the Toul sector, where for the first time
Americans were given charge of a section of trenches.
From here it was sent to Cantigny sector to resist the
March drive against Amiens. To this place General Persh-
ing came on a personal visit, warning the officers of the
desperate character of the fighting which was soon en-
countered. The trenches here were imperfect and the
troops were constantly exposed to shellfire. The first of-
fensive of an American unit was the attack on Cantigny.

ttriMMta

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE 137

Repeated and desperate efforts were made to recapture the
town from the Americans in order that they should not
be permitted to record a success, but the town was held and
victory remained with the First Division. In July the
Division was placed in the Soisson sector to take part in
the attack on the German salient. In five days of heavy
fighting it advanced 11 kilometers and captured 3500 of-
ficers and men, with large quantities of materials. Its
own losses were 78 officers and 1458 men killed, 214 officers
and 6130 men wounded, 5 prisoners and 390 missing; a
heavy price to pay, but the victory at Soisson has been
called the turning point of the war.

Following a fortnight for rest and replacements a short
service in the Vosges preceded the attack on St. Mihiel.
The offensive against this position, which has been held
for four years, was the first operation of an American
army under an American commander. Under the direction
of General Pershing nine American and some French divi-
sions won complete victory, the Americans capturing 16,000
prisoners, 443 guns, and 240 miles of territory. The Divi-
sion was then sent to the Meuse.

In the great final offensive about a million American
troops were engaged in the Argonne sector. After being
held in reserve five days after operations opened, the First
Division went into action October 4th to open the way
on the east for a flank attack upon the forest. From then
until the Armistice fighting and marching were continuous.
The early successes of the American forces in the Argonne
attack started a general German retirement about Novem-
ber 2nd. From then until Armistice Day the advance con-
tinued. On the night of November 5th the First Division
reached the Meuse. It was ordered to attack Sedan. Be-
tween 4:30 in the afternoon of November 5th and midnight
November 7th, the Division advanced and fought con-
stantly. The 16th, 18th and 28th Infantry Regiments

138 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

covered 35 miles each, while the 26th Infantry, under the
command of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, traversed no less
than 45 miles. Then came the Armistice. Immediately
after the Division was ordered into Germany and stationed
at the bridgeheads east of the line, from which it was with-
drawn about a year later, the last units reaching New York
on September 6, 1919.

Such in barest outline is the war record of the First
Division. In little more than a year it lost by death 5,516,
of which 4,964 were killed in battle. Over 17,000 were
wounded, 170 were reported missing, and 124 were taken
prisoners. These numbers nearly equal the original
strength of the Division. In General Order No. 201, of
November 10, 1918, his only General Order issued referring
exclusively to the work of a single Division, after describing
your difficult accomplishments, General Pershing concluded
thus:

"The Commander-in-Chief has noted in this Division
a special pride of service and a high state of morale, never
broken by hardship nor battle."

Five different Generals commanded the Division, all of
whom won high distinction and commendation. They
were William L. Sibert, Robert L. Bullard, Charles P. Sum-
merall, Frank Parker, and Edward F. McGlachlin.

The little that I can say in commendation of the service
of your Division is but a slight suggestion of what is de-
served. Every unit of the American Army, whether at
home or abroad, richly merits its own full measure of rec-
ognition. They shrank from no toil, no danger and no
hardship, that the liberties of our country might adequately
be defended and preserved.

We raise monuments to testify to the honor in which we
hold men for the work they have done, and to be a constant
reminder to ourselves and future generations of the lessons
their actions have taught us. A tradition reminds us of

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE 139

the ingratitude of republics. That supposition must have
arisen before America was very far advanced. It is true
that we do not pay much attention to those who serve us
in civil life. The honor bestowed during the term of the
office may well be thought adequate recognition. When
our country was young and struggling, poor and unorgan-
ized, it found difficulty in even paying those who fought
in the Revolutionary War. It is well known that Washing-
ton was not even a dollar a year man, but donated his
great talents to his country. But after our Constitution
was adopted and the national finances were restored to
order, and as the resources of the country grew, the nation
did not fail in its duty toward those that won our inde-
pendence. The unsurpassing honor in which the nation has
always held its defenders has since that time been reflected
in a policy too familiar to need mention. The great con-
test which Lincoln directed ended less than sixty years
ago. Those who fought in it and their dependents have
been paid about 6,000 million dollars, averaging $100,000,-
000 a year, and payments are now going on at the rate of
about a quarter of a billion dollars each year. The partici-
pants in the Spanish War are being provided for along the
same direction. For that which might be broadly charac-
terized as relief work for the veterans and their dependents
of the World War, the Government has already appropri-
ated well towards 3,000 million dollars. But this is not
the measure, it is only an indication of the high regard and
the abiding honor which America bestows upon its loyal
defenders. It cannot be measured in money. How poor
and cheap and unworthy would be that attitude which
could say: "You have offered your life. Here is your dol-
lar. That discharges the debt. Take it and go." The na-
tion recognizes towards them all a debt which it can never
repay, but which it will never repudiate. Standing to their
credit will forever be an inexhaustible balance of gratitude,

140 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

of honor and of praise. In song and story, in monument
and memorial, in tradition and history, they will live in the
heart of the people forever more.

For the aid and relief of all veterans suffering disability
by reason of service, and of their dependents, with the
unanimous support of the country the Government is com-
mitted to a most broad and liberal policy. Its administra-
tion has been difficult from its very magnitude. It had no
opportunity to grow and learn by experience. While a
military force of about 4,600,000, of which more than 2,000,-
000 were brought from abroad, had to be demobilized and
returned to their homes, and a civil force calculated at
about 7,000,000, discharged from war industries, had to be
relocated in peacetime occupations, an organization com-
plete in all its functions had to be devised to meet this great
emergency of relief. Nevertheless, these 12,000,000 people
were restored to a life of peace with little economic loss.

To unify the relation of the Government to this whole
problem the Veterans Bureau was established. The Bureau
is now functioning in the interest of those it is intended to
serve. The scattered mass of laws dealing with relief have
been coordinated in the Veterans Act of 1924. Government
hospital facilities have been made available to all veterans
of all wars, whether the disability was or was not due to
military service. The needy are even furnished traveling
expenses to reach the hospital. Since 1921 a broad policy
of caring for the sick has been established. Over $40,000,-
000 has been appropriated, 25 new hospitals have been com-
pleted with over 10,000 beds, and 7 more with about 1700
beds will soon be ready for occupancy. The 25,000 to 30,-
000 patients will soon be entirely housed in Government
hospitals with several thousand spare beds.

In order that the government might be brought to the
Veteran, district organizations provide local relief agencies.
Uncertainties are resolved in favor of the service men, and

^«

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE 141

the particular kind of assistance required is supplied. Ex-
ceptional benefits accrue to the mentally ill and their de-
pendents. Organization is nationwide to provide employ-
ment. In cases of excessive relief, if no fraud is involved
the loss falls on the Government, The pension laws for
widows and mothers have been liberalized. While there
are still 40,000 taking rehabilitation training, over 80,000
have completed these courses and substantially all have
been placed in profitable employment.

The caring for those who are the disabled and the de-
pendents by reason of service in time of war is the very
first duty of the National Government. I have referred
to a few of the representative efforts which our country
has made to discharge that duty with an unstinted expen-
diture which has averaged about half a billion dollars each
year. For the relief of stricken veterans and their depend-
ents, America has been proud to establish a new standard.

While this is the first duty, it is by no means the only
one. Many others have resulted from the Great War,
which must be discharged by the Government and the
people. I am well aware that it is impossible to maintain
in time of peace the same exalted spirit of patriotism that
exists in time of war, and yet, although it may be in a less
degree, the country has need of devotion to the same ideals.
In our land the people rule. The great truth cannot be
too often repeated that this nation is exactly what the
people make it. It is necessary to realize that our duties
are personal. For each of us our country will be about what
we make it. The obligation of citizenship is upon each one
of us. We must discharge it in the actions of our daily life.
If we are employed, we must be true to that employment.
If we are in business, we must be true to that business.
What is always of the utmost importance, if we have the
privilege to vote we must inform ourselves of the questions
at issue and going to the ballot box on election day there

142 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

vote, as we claim the sacred right of Americans to live, ac-
cording to the dictates of our own conscience. You who
have offered your blood that these supreme rights and
privileges might be maintained as a standard of human
conduct on this earth must continue to be their chief ex-
ponents by what you say and by what you do. The com-
ing generations will reverence your example.

In this presence I am well aware there is no need to
urge any support of the American Constitution, but I
cannot let this occasion pass without expressing my most
strong and emphatic commendation for the reverence which
your words and actions constantly express for the liberty-
giving provisions of the fundamental law of our land. You
have supported the Constitution and the Flag which i3
its symbol, not only because it represents to you the home-
land, but because you know it is the sole source of Ameri-
can freedom. You want your rights protected by the
impartial judicial decisions of the courts where you will
have a right to be heard and not be exposed to the irre-
sponsible determination of partisan political action. You
want to have your earnings and your property secure. You
want a free and fair opportunity to conduct your own busi-
ness and make your way in the world without danger of
being overcome by a Government monopoly. When the
Government goes into business it lays a tax on everybody
else in that business, and uses the money that it collects
from its competitors to establish a monopoly and drive
them out of business. No one can compete. When the
Government really starts into a line of business that door
of opportunity is closed to the people. It has always been
an American ideal that the door of opportunity should
remain open.

But while naturally we think of our own domestic af-
fairs first, we have to remember not only that we are af-
fected by what happens abroad, but that we are one among

^Mfl

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE 143

other nations. If there is anything which is dear to Ameri-
cans, which they are bound to preserve at all hazards, it
is their independence. I mean by that the privilege of
reserving to themselves the choice of their own course and
the decision of their own actions. We do not propose to
entrust to any other power, or combination of powers, any
authority to make up our own mind for us. But we recog-
nize that what others do has an effect upon us. Had it
not been so, it would not have been necessary for you to
go overseas. We recognize too that we are a part of the
great brotherhood of mankind, that there are mutual duties
and obligations between nations as there are between in-
dividuals. America has every wish to discharge its obliga-
tions. This is a condition which is not imposed upon us
by artificial covenants, but which results from the natural
relationship among nations. We wish to recognize these
requirements for the promotion of peace. WTar and destruc-
tion are unnatural; peace and progress are natural. It is
in that direction that the people of the earth must move.
I am in favor of treaties and covenants conforming to the
American policy of independence to prevent aggressive war
and promote permanent peace. But they have little value
unless the sentiment of peace is cherished in the hearts of
the people. Peace is the result of mutual understanding
and mutual confidence exemplified in honorable action.
Your adversaries found that when you made war, you made
it with all your might. The nation nourished the war spirit.
But now we have made peace. If it is to be real peace, if it
is to result in the benefits that ought to accrue from it, it
will be because we nourish with equal sincerity the peace
spirit, because we seek to establish mutual good will, be-
cause we are moved by the sentiment of magnanimity.

No other basis exists for the progress of civilization on
earth. We had many motives for entering the war. I shall
not attempt to catalogue them. What we need now is to

144 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

cherish the motives for which we made peace. We want
to see the Allies paid, we want to see Germany restored
to a condition of productivity and progress, under which
she will be able to take up the burden of civilization. Our
country has been working toward that end. Our Govern-
ment suggested a plan, the essence of which was that it
should be carried out by private citizens unhampered by
political consideration. That was done. The American
government was the architect, the experts unconnected with
any government built the structure known as the Dawes
Plan. The Allies and Germany have adopted it. It re-
mains for private enterprise in this country and Europe
to help finance it.

When this is done I believe Europe will begin to revive,
and that we shall receive the benefit of a larger market for
the products of our farms and our factories. Above that
we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that we have
done what we could to dispel the hatreds of war, restore
the destruction it has wrought, and lay a firmer foundation
for industrial prosperity and a more secure peace. To pro-
mote these ends, reserving complete jurisdiction over its
own internal affairs and complete independence to direct
its own actions, America should always stand ready. I have
already indicated many times my wish for an International
Court and further disarmament.

We cannot claim that under our institutions we have
reached perfection, but we are justified in saying that our
institutions are the best for the promotion of human wel-
fare that the ingenuity of man has ever been able to devise.
We cannot claim that our Government is perfect, but we
have the right to believe that it is the best that there is.
We do not claim we have been able to discharge our full
duty towards the other nations of the earth. But we have
a right to believe that we have been the most effectual
agency in helping to restore Europe. If anyone doubts the

PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE 145

depth and sincerity of the attachment of the American
people to their institutions and Government, if anyone
doubts the sacrifices which they have been willing to make
in behalf of those institutions and for what they believe to
be the welfare of other nations, let them gaze upon this
monument and other like memorials that have been reared
in every quarter of our broad land. Let them look upon
the representative gatherings of our veterans, and let them
remember that America has dedicated itself to the service
of God and man.

s

XVI

Our government rests upon religion. It is from
that source that we derive our reverence for
truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and
for the rights of mankind. Unless the people
believe in these principles they cannot believe in
our government.

nil

RELIGION AND THE REPUBLIC

This occasion cannot but recall to our minds in a most
impressive way the sacrifice and devotion that has gone
into the making of our country. It is impossible to inter-
pret it as the working out of a plan devised by man. The
wisest and most far-sighted of them had little conception
of the greatness of the structure which was to arise on the
foundation which they were making. As we review their
accomplishments they constantly admonish us not only
that "all things work together for good to them that love
God/' but that in the direction of the affairs of our country
there has been an influence that had a broader vision, a
greater wisdom and a wider purpose, than that of mortal
man, which we can only ascribe to a Divine Providence. A
wide variety of motives has gone into the building of our
republic. We can never understand what self-government is
or what is necessary to maintain it unless we keep these
fundamentals in mind. To one of them, Francis Asbury,
the first American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and his associates, made a tremendous contribution.

Our government rests upon religion. It is from that
source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice,
for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind.
Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot
believe in our government. There are only two main the-
ories of government in the world. One rests on righteous-
ness, the other rests on force. One appeals to reason, the
other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in a re-

At the unveiling of the Equestrian Statue of Bishop Francis Asbury,
Washington, D. C, October 15, 1924.

149

I Pi

150 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

public, the other is represented by a despotism. The his-
tory of government on this earth has been almost entirely
a history of the rule of force held in the hands of a few.
Under our constitution America committed itself to the
practical application of the rule of reason, with the power
held in the hands of the people.

This result was by no means accomplished at once. It
came about only by reason of long and difficult preparation,
oftentimes accompanied with discouraging failure. The
ability for self-government is arrived at only through an
extensive training and education. In our own case it re-
quired many generations, and we cannot yet say that it is

[li wholly perfected. It is of a great deal of significance that

the generation which fought the American Revolution had

ill seen a very extensive religious revival. They had heard the

Hi! preaching of Jonathan Edwards. They had seen the great

revival meetings that were inspired also by the preaching

III of Whitefield. The religious experiences of those days made

a profound impression upon the great body of the people.
They made new thoughts and created new interests. They

1 1 freed the public mind, through a deeper knowledge and

more serious contemplation of the truth. By calling the

f I people to righteousness they were a direct preparation for

*' self-government. It was for a continuation of this work

that Francis Asbury was raised up.

The religious movement which he represented was dis-
tinctly a movement to reach the great body of the people.
Just as our Declaration of Independence asserts that all
men are created free, so it seems to me the founders of
this movement were inspired by the thought that all men
were worthy to hear the Word, worthy to be sought out
and brought to salvation. It was this motive that took
their preachers among the poor and neglected, even to
criminals in the jails. As our ideal has been to bring all
men to freedom, so their ideal was to bring all men to

RELIGION AND THE REPUBLIC 151

salvation. It was preeminently a movement in behalf of
all the people. It was not a new theory. The American
Constitution was not a new theory. But, like it, it was the
practical application of an old theory which was very new.

Just as the time was approaching when our country was
about to begin the work of establishing a government which
was to represent the rule of the people, where not a few
but the many were to control public affairs, where the vote
of the humblest was to count for as much as the vote of
the most exalted, Francis Asbury came to America to
preach religion. He had no idea that he was preparing
men the better to take part in a great liberal movement, the
better to take advantage of free institutions, and the better
to perform the functions of self-government. He did not
come for political motives. Undoubtedly they were farthest
from his mind. Others could look after public affairs. He
was a loyal and peaceful subject of the Realm. He came
to bring the gospel to the people, to bear witness to the
truth and to follow it wheresoever it might lead. Wherever
men dwelt, whatever their condition, no matter how re-
mote, no matter how destitute they might be, to him they
were souls to be saved.

For this work, the bearing of the testimony of the truth
to those who were about to be, and to those who in his later
years were, sovereign American citizens, he had a peculiar
training and aptitude. He was the son of a father who
earned his livelihood by manual labor, of a mother who
bore a reputation for piety. By constant effort they pro-
vided the ordinary comforts of life and an opportunity for
intellectual and religious instruction. It was thus that he
came out of a home of the people. Very early, at the age
of seventeen, he began his preaching. In 1771, when he
was twenty-six years old, responding to a call for volunteers,
he was sent by Wesley to America. Landing in Philadel-
phia, he began that ministry which in the next forty-five

152 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

years was to take him virtually all through the colonies and
their western confines and into Canada, from Maine on the
north, almost to the Gulf of Mexico on the south.

He came to America five years after the formation of
the first Methodist Society in the city of New York, which
had been contemporaneous with his own joining of the
British Conference as an itinerant preacher and a gospel
missionary. At that time it is reported that there were 316
members of his denomination in this country. The prodi-
gious character of his labors is revealed when we remember
that he traveled some 6,000 miles each year, or in all about
270,000 miles, preaching about 15,500 sermons and ordain-
ing more than 4,000 clergymen, besides presiding at no less
than 224 Annual Conferences. The highest salary that he
received was $80 each year for this kind of service, which
meant exposure to summer heat and winter cold, traveling
alone through the frontier forests, sharing the rough fare
of the pioneer's cabin, until his worn-out frame was laid at
last to rest. But he left behind him as one evidence of his
labors 695 preachers and 214,235 members of his denomina-
tion. The vitality of the cause which he served is further
revealed by recalling that the 316 with which he began has
now grown to more than 8,000,000.

His problem during the Revolutionary War was that of
continuing to perform his duties without undertaking to
interfere in civil or military affairs. He had taken for the
text of his first sermon in America these very significant
words: "For I determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and him crucified." When several of his
associates left for England in 1775, he decided to stay. "I
can by no means agree to leave such a field for gathering
souls to Christ as we have in America," he writes, "there-
fore I am determined by the grace of God not to leave them,
let the consequence be what it may." But he had no lack
of loyalty to the early form of American government.

RELIGION AND THE REPUBLIC 153

When the inauguration of Washington took place April
30, 1789, the Conference being in session, Bishop Asbury
moved the presentation of a congratulatory address to the
new President. His suggestion was adopted, and the
Bishop being one of those designated for the purpose, pre-
senting the address in person, read it to Washington. How
well he fitted into the scheme of things, this circuit rider
who spent his life making stronger the foundation on which
our government rests and seeking to implant in the hearts
of all men, however poor and unworthy they may have
seemed, an increased ability to discharge the high duties of
their citizenship. His outposts marched with the pioneers,
his missionaries visited the hovels of the poor so that all
men might be brought to a knowledge of the truth.

A great lesson has been taught us by this holy life. It
was because of what Bishop Asbury and his associates
preached and what other religious organizations, through
their ministry, preached, that our country has developed so
much freedom and contributed so much to the civilization
of the world. It is well to remember this when we are
seeking for social reforms. If we can keep in mind their
sources, we shall better understand their limitations.

The government of a country never gets ahead of the
religion of a country. There is no way by which we can
substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of
course we can help to restrain the vicious and furnish a fair
degree of security and protection by legislation and police
control, but the real reforms which society in these days is
seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions,
or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity,
charity — these cannot be legislated into being. They are
the result of a Divine Grace. I have never seen the neces-
sity for reliance upon religion rather than upon law better
expressed than in a great truth uttered by Mr. Tiffany
Blake, of Chicago, when he said : "Christ spent no time in

154 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the antechamber of Caesar." An act of Congress may indi-
cate that a reform is being or has been accomplished, but it
does not of itself bring about a reform.

Perhaps, too, there is a lesson in contentment in the life
of this devout man. He never had any of the luxuries of
this life. Even its conveniences did not reach him, and of
its absolute necessaries he had a scanty share. Without
ever having the enjoyment of a real home, constantly on
the move, poorly clad, often wretchedly sheltered, much of
the time insufficiently nourished, yet his great spirit pressed
on to the end, always toward the mark of his high calling.
His recompense was not in the things of the earth. Yet
who can doubt that as he beheld his handiwork, as he saw
his accomplishments grow, there came to him a glorious
satisfaction and a divine peace? No doubt he valued the
material things of this life, and certainly they ought to be
valued and valued greatly, but he regarded it as his work
to put a greater emphasis on the things of the spirit. He
sought to prepare men for the sure maintenance and the
proper enjoyment of liberty, and for the more certain pro-
duction and the better use of wealth, by inspiring them with
a reverence for the moral values of life.

What a wonderful experience he must have had, this
prophet of the wilderness! Who shall say where his influ-
ence, written upon the immortal souls of men, shall end?
How many homes he must have hallowed ! What a multi-
tude of frontier mothers must have brought their children
to him to receive his blessing! It is more than probable
that Nancy Hanks, the mother of Lincoln, had heard him
in her youth. Adams and Jefferson must have known him,
and Jackson must have seen in him a flaming spirit as un-
conquerable as his own. How many temples of worship
dot our landscape; how many institutions of learning, some
of them rejoicing in the name of Wesleyan, all trace the
inspiration of their existence to the sacrifice and service of

RELIGION AND THE REPUBLIC 155

this lone circuit rider ! He is entitled to rank as one of the
builders of our nation.

On the foundation of a religious civilization which he
sought to build, our country has enjoyed greater blessing of
liberty and prosperity than was ever before the lot of man.
These cannot continue if we neglect the work which he did.
We cannot depend on the government to do the work of
religion. We cannot escape a personal responsibility for
our own conduct. We cannot regard those as wise or safe
counselors in public affairs who deny these principles and
seek to support the theory that society can succeed when
the individual fails.

I do not see how any one could recount the story of this
early Bishop without feeling a renewed faith in our own
country. He met a multitude of storms. Many of them
caused him sore trials. But he never wavered. He saw wars
and heard rumors of war, but whatever may have been the
surface appearance, underneath it all our country manifested
then and has continued to manifest a high courage, a re-
markable strength of spirit and an unusual ability, in a
crisis, to choose the right course. Something has continued
to guide the people. No tumult has been loud enough to
prevent their hearing the still small voice. No storm has
been violent enough to divert inspired men from constantly
carrying the word of truth. The contests of the day have
but been preparations for victories on the morrow. Through
it all our country has acquired an underlying power of
judgment and stability of action which has never failed it.
It furnishes its own answer to those who would defame it.
It can afford to be oblivious to those who would detract
from it. America continues its own way unchallenged and
unafraid. Above all attacks and all vicissitudes it has
arisen calm and triumphant; not perfect, but marching on
guided in its great decisions by the same spirit which guided
Francis Asbury.

XVII

i

It is our earnest wish to cooperate and to help in I

every possible way in restoring the unfortunate

countries of the Old World. We want to help I

them to rid themselves of the bad traditions,
the ancient animosities, the long established
hostilities. We want our America to continue
an example and a demonstration that peace,
harmony, cooperation and a truly national patri-
otic sentiment may be established and perpetu-
ated on an American scale. We believe our first
great service to the Old World will be in proving a

this. And in proving it, we shall be doing the I

things that will best equip us, spiritually and
materially, to give the most effective help
toward relieving the suffering nations of the Old j

World.

nn

THE GENIUS OF AMERICA

The members of this delegation, whom I have much
pleasure in receiving, are all American citizens who chance
to have been born in other countries than our own. You
have called upon me to testify for yourselves and the mil-
lions of others who, though not natives to our soil, are in
every other respect thorough-going, loyal and devoted
Americans. I am glad to welcome you, not only to this
place, but to the full privileges and opportunities, and espe-
cially to the full responsibilities and duties, of American
citizens. It is not very long, as history views matters, since
all of us were alien to this soil. I suppose that if Methu-
selah were at this time an American in his period of middle
life, and should drop in on our little party, he would regard
us all as upstarts. Fortunately, American ideas of hospital-
ity have been greatly modified since the times when some of
my early American forbears argued the matter with the
Indian known as King Philip. He and his Indian sup-
porters regarded themselves as the real Americans, and
maintained their case all too effectively.

It is a truism, of course, but it is none the less a fact
which we must never forget, that this continent and this
American community have been blessed with an unparal-
leled capacity for assimilating peoples of varying races and
nations. The continuing migration which in three centuries
has established here this nation of more than a hundred
million, has been the greatest that history records as taking
place in any such brief period. Viewing it historically, we

To a delegation of foreign-born citizens at the White House, Thursday
morning, October 16, 1924

159

160 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

find that the migration to America was little more than a
westward projection of the series of great movements of
peoples, by which Europe was given its present popula-
tion. But there is a striking difference between the migra-
tions into Europe, and the later movements of the same
racial elements to the New World.

It was the fate of Europe to be always a battleground.
Differences in race, in religion, in political genius and social
ideals, seemed always, in the atmosphere of our mother
continent, to be invitations to contest by battle. From
the dawn of history, and we can only conjecture how much
longer, the conflicts of races and civilizations, of traditions
and usages, have gone on. It is one of the anomalies of the
human story that these peoples, who could not be assimi-
lated and unified under the skies of Europe, should on com-
ing to America discover an amazing genius for cooperation,
for fusion, and for harmonious effort. Yet they were the
same people when they came here that they had been on
the other side of the Atlantic. Quite apparently, they
found something in our institutions, something in the
American system of Government and society which they
themselves helped to construct, that furnished to all of
them a political and cultural common denominator.

Is it possible for us to make an analysis which will dis-
close this element that has wrought such a strangely differ-
ent result here in our country? It must be an element that
was present among the peoples of Europe while they were
still in Europe. It could not have been brought here except
by them. There has been nobody else to bring it. The
original human materials were the same in both cases.

It has seemed to me that our search for this mysterious
factor of difference must lead to the conclusion that it was
not a single factor but the united workings of at least
three forces, that brought about the wide difference.
Among these I should place, first, the broadly tolerant atti-

THE GENIUS OF AMERICA 161

tude that has been a characteristic of this country. I use
the word in its most inclusive sense, to cover tolerance of
religious opinion, tolerance in politics, tolerance in social
relationships; in general, the liberal attitude of every citi-
zen toward his fellows. It is this factor which has preserved
to all of us that equality of opportunity which enables
every American to become the architect of whatever for-
tune he deserves.

Along with this element of universal tolerance, I should
couple our Republican system of Government, which gives
to every man a share and a responsibility in the direction
of public affairs. And third, I should place our system of
universal free education.

I shall not quarrel with anybody who chooses to give
these three factors a different order of importance. That
is a matter for individual judgment. But I do believe that
these three factors largely represent the advantages which
our people have enjoyed, and which have made it possible
for them to build here a great, harmonious, liberal, com-
munity of free people. Starting anew in a land of almost
unlimited natural opportunity, the early settlers found that
the success of their nation-building experiments must de-
pend upon their working harmoniously together, sinking
non-essential differences, cooperating frankly and sincerely
in the general interest, and, above all else, forgetting the
ancient antagonisms. It has been our good fortune that we
have been able to shake off the old traditions, to strike
hands with our neighbor in the common effort to preserve
our new-found liberties. And along with this, through our
system of universal education, we have been able to guard
against the revival of old, or the creation of new regional
or group hostilities.

You who represent the more recent accretions to our
population, know how generously you have been received.
You know how free and unquestioned has been your access

162 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to the opportunities of this land. You have been expected
to do your honest share of the day's work in a community
which ranked productive toil as a distinction rather than
a degradation. We have all taken our chance on that con-
dition. Because we have been willing to do so, we have
been prospered in material things and, what is ever more
worth while, in the things of the spirit. Generation after
generation, from the beginnings of permanent settlement
here, the country has been able to receive and absorb a
great number of newcomers from the older countries. That
was possible so long as there was cheap land for settlement,
and the assurance that industry could put value into it.

But with the passing of the day of lands so cheap as to
be well-nigh free, we are coming to confront a new set of
conditions. It has been found necessary to inquire whether
under these new conditions we can be sure of finding em-
ployment for the diverse elements and enormous numbers
of new immigrants that are offered to us. We are all
agreed, whether we be Americans of the first or of the
seventh generation on this soil, that it is not desirable to
receive more immigrants than can reasonably be assured of
bettering their condition by coming here. For the sake
both of those who would come and more especially of those
already here, it has been thought wise to avoid the danger
of increasing our numbers too fast. It is not a reflection
on any race or creed. We might not be able to support
them if their numbers were too great. In such event, the
first sufferers would be the most recent immigrants, unac-
customed to our life and language and industrial methods.
We want to keep wages and living conditions good for
everyone who is now here or who may come here.

As a Nation, our first duty must be to those who are
already our inhabitants, whether native or immigrants. To
them we owe an especial and a weighty obligation. They
came to us with stout hearts and high hopes of bettering

THE GENIUS OF AMERICA 163

their estate. They have contributed much to making our
country what it is. They magnificently proved their loyalty
by contributing their full part when the war made demand
for sacrifices by all Americans.

It must be the hope of every American citizen to main-
tain here as a permanent establishment, and as a perpetual
inheritance for Americans of the future, the full measure of
benefits and advantages which our people have been privi-
leged to enjoy. It is our earnest wish to cooperate and to
help in every possible way in restoring the unfortunate
countries of the Old World. We want to help them to rid
themselves of the bad traditions, the ancient animosities,
the long established hostilities. We want our America to
continue an example and a demonstration that peace, har-
money, cooperation and a truly national patriotic sentiment
may be established and perpetuated on an American scale.
We believe our first great service to the Old World will be
in proving this. And in proving it, we shall be doing the
things that will best equip us, spiritually and materially,
to give the most effective help toward relieving the suffer-
ing nations of the Old World.

You have demonstrated again and again that it is useless
to appeal to you on any thing but patriotic motives. You
are for America, you are for our Constitution, you will not
be tempted to take any action that will imperil our society
or our Government.

It is the natural and correct attitude of mind for each
of us to have regard for our own race and the place of our
own origin. There is abundant room here for the preser-
vation and development of the many divergent virtues
that are characteristic of the different races which have
made America their home. They ought to cling to all these
virtues and cultivate them tenaciously. It is my own belief
that in this land of freedom new arrivals should especially
keep up their devotion to religion. Disregarding the need

164 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

of the individual for a religious life, I feel that there is a
more urgent necessity, based on the requirements of good
citizenship and the maintenance of our institutions, for
devotion to religion in America than anywhere else in the
world. One of the greatest dangers that beset those coming
to this country, especially those of the younger generation,
is that they will fall away from the religion of their fathers,
and never become attached to any other faith.

But in cherishing all that is best in the land of your
origin, and in desiring the highest welfare of the people of
the old home, the question arises as to how that result can
best be secured. I know that there is no better American
spirit than that which is exhibited by many of those who
have recently come to our shores. It is my belief that those
who live here and really want to help some other country,
can best accomplish that result by making themselves truly
and wholly American. I mean by that, giving their first
allegiance to this country and always directing their actions
in a course which will be first of all for the best interests of
this country. They cannot help other nations by bringing
old world race prejudices and race hatreds into action here.
In fact, they can best help other countries by scrupulously
avoiding any such motives. It can be taken for granted
that we all wish to help Europe. We cannot secure that
result by proposing or taking any action that would injure
America. Nor can we secure it by proposing or taking any
action that would seriously injure some European country.
The spirit of America is to help everybody and injure no-
body. We can be in a position to help only by unifying
the American nation, building it up, making it strong, keep-
ing it independent, using its inclination to help and its
disclination to injure. Those who cast in their lot with
this country can be true to the land of their origin only
by first being true to America. When the public sees and
realizes that racial groups here are first of all devoted to

THE GENIUS OF AMERICA 165

the interests of this country, there will be little difficulty
in securing here the present needed help and assistance for
the countries of the old world.

This is the main thought which your presence here brings
to my mind. Let us maintain all the high ideals which
have been characteristic of our different races at home.
Let us keep our desire to help other lands as a great and
broad principle, not to help in one place and do harm in
another, but to render assistance everywhere. Let us re-
member also that the best method of promoting this action
is by giving undivided allegiance to America, maintaining
its institutions, supporting its Government, and, by leaving
it internally harmonious, making it eternally powerful in
promoting a reign of justice and mercy throughout the
earth.

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/ regard a good budget as among the noblest
monuments oj virtue.

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DISCRIMINATING BENEVOLENCE

When the Committee representing your Federation
brought me the invitation to address you this evening, I
did not receive them with any very profound enthusiasm.
To be confidential for a moment, I may confess that an in-
vitation to make a speech is not the rarest experience that
comes into a President's life. But I listened with, I hope,
proper politeness, down to the point where your spokesman
started explaining that you were to devote an evening to
the consideration of a budget. Then I began to take real
interest, for the budget idea, I may admit, is a sort of
obsession with me. I believe in budgets. I want other
people to believe in them. I have had a small one to run
my own home; and besides that, I am the head of the
organization that makes the greatest of all budgets — that
of the United States Government. Do you wonder, then,
that at times I dream of balance sheets and sinking funds,
and deficits, and tax rates, and all the rest?

Yes, I regard a good budget as among the noblest monu-
ments of virtue. It is deserving of all emulation ; but there
are other topics that afford more obvious inspiration to
popular oratory. So when I found that you actually
wanted a budget speech, I felt a warming sense of gratitude.
Anybody who would deliberately ask for a budget speech
ought to be accommodated. I accepted the invitation, and
now I want to begin by extending my hearty compliments
to my audience. Your practical interest in the budget plan,
your adoption of it as the basis of your great charity sys-

Address delivered over the telephone from the White House to the
Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies of New York City, assembled
at the Hotel Pennsylvania, October 26, 1924.

169

170 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

tern, is a fine accomplishment. Wherever the same plan
has been adopted, in the financing of benevolences, philan-
thropies and charities through the "Community Chest"
method, it has been productive of the best results. It has
eliminated the waste of indiscriminate charity; but that
is not by any means its most commendable accomplish-
ment. Far more useful, I think, is the service it has done
in organizing these works of human helpfulness so that we
may be sure they will not do more harm than good. Noth-
ing is finer than the open hand and the generous heart that
prompt free and unselfish giving. But modern social science
knows, also, that ill-directed charity is often directly re-
sponsible for encouragement of pauperism and mendicancy.
The best service we can do for the needy and the unfor-
tunate is to help them in such manner that their self-
respect, their ability to help themselves, shall not be in-
jured but augmented Nobody is necessarily out merely
because he is down. But, being down, nobody gets up
again without honest effort of his own. The best help that
benevolence and philanthropy can give is that which in-
duces everybody to help himself.

Your Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic
Societies in New York is the central financial agency, I am
told, for no less than ninety-one various philanthropies,
which receive annual support aggregating $7,000,000.
Among them are hospitals, orphanages, a great relief so-
ciety, a loaning organization, a home for Aged and Infirm.
The Young Men's Hebrew Association and the Young
Women's Hebrew Association do social and educational
work of the greatest value. Especial attention is devoted
indeed to educational effort for which technical schools are
maintained. That is, of course, precisely what we should
expect from a great Jewish organization ; for the Jews are
always among the first to appreciate and to utilize educa-
tional opportunities.

DISCRIMINATING BENEVOLENCE 171

Into this entire system of communal services, reaching
to every possible department of social relations, the Federa-
tion brings order and a proper inter-relationship. Dupli-
cation of services, which always means multiplication of
expense and division of results, is avoided. The man or
woman who gives through this agency, knows that the most
good will be done, at the least expense. All administrative
costs of the organization have averaged less than four cents
on the dollar. Other "Community Chest" activities, which
in recent years are getting spread all about the country,
make like showings of efficiency and economical manage-
ment. They have been able, just as your Federation has
been able, to enlist the best abilities, the most skilled direc-
tion, the widest experience, in systematizing operations
that ordinarily are haphazard and wasteful.

But, with all of my regard for the strictly business aspect
of this splendid modern program, I must emphasize once
more that to me the greatest good of these communal or-
ganizations of benevolence lies in their immeasurably
greater capacity for real good. There is an impressive
array of testimony that the average dollar of indiscriminate,
well-meaning, ignorant donation to charity is mostly
wasted. Many such dollars are far worse than wasted.
You seek no cold and heartless elimination of sentiment
from your charitable works. You have, however, sought
to substitute sense for sentimentality; and that is alto-
gether to be desired.

The Jewish people have always and everywhere been
particularly devoted to the ideal of taking care of their
own. This Federation is one of the monuments to their
independence and self-reliance. They have sought to pro-
tect and preserve that wonderful inheritance of tradition,
culture, literature and religion, which has placed the world
under so many obligations to them. In their efforts to
serve their own highest ideals, they will always be helpful

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172 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to the wider community of which they are a part. In the
work of this Federation they are rendering a service not
only to their own people, but to the entire community.
Along with that precious service, they are setting up an
example of successful practical, helpful business administra-
tion which deserves all commendation. It may well be an
inspiration to every charitable agency in the land.

I want you to know that I feel you are making good
citizens, that you are strengthening the Government, that
you are demonstrating the supremacy of the spiritual life
and helping establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

XIX

31

The people of our country are sovereign. If H|

they do not vote they abdicate that sovereignty,

and they may be entirely sure that if they relin- 91

quish it other forces will seize it, and if they fail

to govern themselves some other power will rise

up to govern them. The choice is always before

them — whether they will be slaves or whether *!

they will be free. |

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THE DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP

The institutions of our country rest upon faith in the
people. No decision that the people have made in any-
great crisis has ever shown that faith in them has been
misplaced. It is impossible to divorce that faith which we
have in others from the faith which we have in ourselves.
The right action of all of us is made up of the right action
of each one of us. Unless each of us is determined to
meet the duty that comes to us, we can have no right to
expect that others will meet the duties that come to them.
Certainly we cannot expect them so to act as to save us
from the consequences of having failed to act. The imme-
diate and pressing obligation for tomorrow is that each
one of us who is qualified shall vote. That is a function
which cannot be delegated, which cannot be postponed.
The opportunity will never arise again. If the individual
fails to discharge that obligation, the whole nation will
suffer a loss from that neglect.

America, more thoroughly than any other country, has
adopted a system of self-government. Sometimes we refer
to it as the rule of the people. Certainly it is a system
under which there is every opportunity for self-government
and every encouragement for the people to rule. Ours has
been described as a government of public opinion. Of
course, public opinion functions all the time. It no doubt
has its influence on the actions of the executive and legisla-
tive branches of our Government, and even though it be
imperceptible on any given occasion it is probably, as time
passes, reflected in the courts. But all the influence of pub-
Address by radio from the White House, November 3, 1924.

175

176 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

lie opinion, all the opportunity for self-government through
the rule of the people, depends upon one single factor.
That is the ballot box. If the time comes when our citizens
fail to respond to their right and duty, individually and
collectively, intelligently and effectively at the ballot box
on election day, I do not know what form of government
will be substituted for that which we at present have the
opportunity to enjoy, but I do know it will no longer be
a rule of the people, it will no longer be self-government.
The people of our country are sovereign. If they do not
vote they abdicate that sovereignty, and they may be en-
tirely sure that if they relinquish it other forces will seize
it, and if they fail to govern themselves some other power
will rise up to govern them. The choice is always before
them — whether they will be slaves or whether they will be
free. The only way to be free is to exercise actively and
energetically the privileges, and discharge faithfully the
duties which make freedom. It is not to be secured by
passive resistance. It is the result of energy and action.

To live up to the full measure of citizenship in this na-
tion requires not only action, but it requires intelligent
action. It is necessary to secure information and to acquire
education. The background of our citizenship is the meet-
ing house and the school house, the place of religious wor-
ship and the place of intellectual training. But we cannot
abandon our education at the school house door. We have
to keep it up through life. A political campaign can be
justified only on the grounds that it enables the citizens to
become informed as to what policies are best for themselves
and for their country, in order that they may vote to elect
those who from their past record and present professions
they know will put such policies into effect. The purpose
of a campaign is to send an intelligent and informed voter
to the ballot box. All the speeches, all the literature, all
the organization, all the effort, all the time and all the

THE DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP 177

money, which are not finally registered on election day,
are wasted.

We are always confronted with the question of whether
we wish to be ruled by all the people or a part of the peo-
ple, by the minority or the majority ; whether we wish our
elections to be dominated by those who have been misled,
through the presentation of half truths, into the formation
of hasty, illogical and unsound conclusions ; or whether we
wish those to determine the course of our Government who
have through due deliberation and careful consideration
of all the factors involved reached a sound and mature con-
clusion. We shall always have with us an element of dis-
content, an element inspired with more zeal than knowl-
edge. They will always be active and energetic, and they
seldom fail to vote on election day. But the people at
large in this country are not represented by them. They
are greatly in the minority. But their number is large
enough to be a decisive factor in many elections, unless it
is offset by the sober second thought of the people who
have something at stake, whether it be earnings from in-
vestment or from employment, who are considering not
only their own welfare, but the welfare of their children
and of coming generations. Our institutions never con-
templated that the conduct of this country, the direction of
its affairs, the adoption of its policies, the maintenance of
its principles, should be decided by a minority moved in
part by self-interest and prejudice. They were framed on
the theory that decisions would be made by the great body
of voters inspired by patriotic motives. Faith in the people
does not mean faith in a part of the people. It means faith
in all the people. Our country is always safe when decisions
are made by a majority of those who are entitled to vote.
It is always in peril when decisions are made by a minority.

Lately we have added to our voting population the
womanhood of the nation. I do not suppose that George

178 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Washington could be counted as one who would have fa-
vored placing upon the women of his time the duty and
responsibility of taking part in elections. Nevertheless
he had seen a deep realization of the importance of their
influence upon public affairs at the time when we were
adopting our Federal Constitution, that he wrote to one of
them as follows:

"A spirit of accommodation was happily infused into
the leading characters of the continent and the minds of
men were gradually prepared, by disappointment, for the
reception of a good government. Nor could I rob the fairer
sex of their share in the glory of a revolution so honorable
to human nature, for, indeed, I think you ladies are in the
number of the best patriots America can boast. "

The praise of Washington was none too high. Without
doubt the intuition of the women of his day was quick to
reveal what a high promise the patriotic efforts of Wash-
ington and his associates held out for the homes and for
the children of our new and unfolding republic. What was
then done by indirect influence is now possible through
direct action. The continuing welfare of the home, the
continuing hope of the children, are no longer represented
by an expectation. Experience has made them the great
reality of America. If the women of that day were willing
to support what was only a vision, a promise, surely in
this day they will be willing to go to the ballot box to sup-
port what has become an actual and permanent realization
of their desires.

But the right to vote is conferred upon our citizens not
only that they may exercise it for their own benefit, but in
order that they may exercise it also for the benefit of others.
Persons who have the right to vote are trustees for the
benefit of their country and their countrymen. They have
no right to say they do not care. They must care. They
have no right to say that whatever the result of the election

THE DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP 179

they can get along. They must remember that their coun-
try and their countrymen cannot get along, cannot remain
sound, cannot preserve its institutions, cannot protect its
citizens, cannot maintain its place in the world, unless those
who have the right to vote do sustain and do guide the
course of public affairs by the thoughtful exercise of that
right on election day. They do not hold a mere privilege
to be exercised or not, as passing fancy may move them.
They are charged with a great trust, one of the most im-
portant and most solemn which can be given into the keep-
ing of an American citizen. It should be discharged
thoughtfully and seriously, in accordance with its vast im-
portance.

I therefore urge upon all the voters of our country, with-
out reference to party, that they assemble tomorrow at
their respective voting places in the exercise of the high
office of American citizenship, that they approach the ballot
box in the spirit that they would approach a sacrament,
and there, disregarding all appeals to passion and prejudice,
dedicating themselves truly and wholly to the welfare of
their country, they make their choice of public officers
solely in the light of their own conscience. When an elec-
tion is so held, when a choice is so made, it results in the
real rule of the people, it warrants and sustains the belief
that the voice of the people is the voice of God.

I

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II
It is all the more necessary under a system of

free government that the people should be en-
lightened, that they should be correctly in-
formed, than it is under an absolute government '"
that they should be ignorant.

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THE PRESS UNDER A FREE GOVERNMENT

The relationship between governments and the press has
always been recognized as a matter of large importance.
Wherever despotism abounds, the sources of public infor-
mation are the first to be brought under its control. Where-
ever the cause of liberty is making its way, one of its
highest accomplishments is the guarantee of the freedom
of the press. It has always been realized, sometimes in-
stinctively, oftentimes expressly, that truth and freedom
are inseparable. An absolutism could never rest upon any-
thing save a perverted and distorted view of human rela-
tionships and upon false standards set up and maintained
by force. It has always found it necessary to attempt to
dominate the entire field of education and instruction. It
has thrived on ignorance. While it has sought to train the
minds of a few, it has been largely with the purpose of
attempting to give them a superior facility for misleading
the many. Men have been educated under absolutism, not
that they might bear witness to the truth, but that they
might be the more ingenious advocates and defenders of
false standards and hollow pretenses. This has always
been the method of privilege, the method of class and caste,
the method of master and slave.

When a community has sufficiently advanced so that its
government begins to take on that of the nature of a re-
public, the processes of education become even more im-
portant, but the method is necessarily reversed. It is all
the more necessary under a system of free government that

Address before the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Wash-
ington, January 17, 1925.

183

184 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the people should be enlightened, that they should be cor-
rectly informed, than it is under an absolute government
that they should be ignorant. Under a republic the insti-
tutions of learning, while bound by the constitution and
laws, are in no way subservient to the government. The
principles which they enunciate do not depend for their
authority upon whether they square with the wish of the
ruling dynasty, but whether they square with the everlast-
ing truth. Under these conditions the press, which had
before been made an instrument for concealing or pervert-
ing the facts, must be made an instrument for their true
representation and their sound and logical interpretation.
From the position of a mere organ, constantly bound to
servitude, public prints rise to a dignity, not only of inde-
pendence, but of a great educational and enlightening fac-
tor. They attain new powers, which it is almost impossible
to measure, and become charged with commensurate re-
sponsibilities.

The public press under an autocracy is necessarily a true
agency of propaganda. Under a free government it must
be the very reverse. Propaganda seeks to present a part
of the facts, to distort their relations, and to force conclu-
sions which could not be drawn from a complete and candid
survey of all the facts. It has been observed that propa-
ganda seeks to close the mind, while education seeks to
open it. This has become one of the dangers of the pres-
ent day.

The great difficulty in combating unfair propaganda, or
even in recognizing it, arises from the fact* that at the pres-
ent time we confront so many new and technical problems
that it is an enormous task to keep ourselves accurately
informed concerning them. In this respect, you gentlemen
of the press face the same perplexities that are encountered
by legislators and government administrators. Whoever
deals with current public questions is compelled to rely

THE PRESS UNDER A FREE GOVERNMENT 185

greatly upon the information and judgments of experts and
specialists. Unfortunately, not all experts are to be trusted
as entirely disinterested. Not all specialists are completely
without guile. In our increasing dependence on specialized
authority, we tend to become easier victims for the propa-
gandists, and need to cultivate sedulously the habit of the
open mind. No doubt every generation feels that its prob-
lems are the most intricate and baffling that have ever been
presented for solution. But with all recognition of the dis-
position to exaggerate in this respect, I think we can fairly
say that our times in all their social and economic aspects
are more complex than any past period. We need to keep
our minds free from prejudice and bias. Of education, and
of real information we cannot get too much. But of propa-
ganda, which is tainted or perverted information, we cannot
have too little.

Newspaper men, therefore, endlessly discuss the question
of what is news. I judge that they will go on discussing it
as long as there are newspapers. It has seemed to me that
quite obviously the news-giving function of a newspaper
cannot possibly require that it give a photographic presen-
tation of everything that happens in the community. That
is an obvious impossibility. It seems fair to say that the
proper presentation of the news bears about the same re-
lation to the whole field of happenings that a painting does
to a photograph. The photograph might give the more
accurate presentation of details, but in doing so it might
sacrifice the opportunity the more clearly to delineate char-
acter. My college professor was wont to tell us a good
many years ago that if a painting of a tree was only the
exact representation of the original, so that it looked just
like the tree, there would be no reason for making it; we
might as well look at the tree itself. But the painting, if
it is of the right sort, gives something that neither a photo-
graph nor a view of the tree conveys. It emphasizes some-

186 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

thing of character, quality, individuality. We are not lost
in looking at thorns and defects; we catch a vision of the
grandeur and beauty of a king of the forest.

And so I have conceived that the news, properly pre-
sented, should be a sort of cross-section of the character of
current human experience. It should delineate character,
quality, tendencies and implications. In this way the re-
porter exercises his genius. Out of the current events he
does not make a drab and sordid story, but rather an in-
forming and enlightened epic. His work becomes no longer
imitative, but rises to an original art.

Our American newspapers serve a double purpose. They
bring knowledge and information to their readers, and at
the same time they play a most important part in connec-
tion with the business interests of the community, both
through their news and advertising departments. Probably
there is no rule of your profession to which you gentlemen
are more devoted than that which prescribes that the
editorial and the business policies of the paper are to be
conducted by strictly separate departments. Editorial
policy and news policy must not be influenced by business
consideration ; business policies must not be affected by edi-
torial programs. Such a dictum strikes the outsider as in-
volving a good deal of difficulty in the practical adjust-
ments of c very-day management. Yet, in fact, I doubt if
those adjustments are any more difficult than have to be
made in every other department of human effort. Life is
a long succession of compromises and adjustments, and it
may be doubted whether the press is compelled to make
them more frequently than others do.

When I have contemplated these adjustments of busi-
ness and editorial policy, it has always seemed to me that
American newspapers are peculiarly representative of the
practical idealism of our country. Quite recently the con-
struction of a revenue statute resulted in giving publicity

THE PRESS UNDER A FREE GOVERNMENT 187

to some highly interesting facts about incomes. It must
have been observed that nearly all the newspapers pub-
lished these interesting facts in their news columns, while
very many of them protested in their editorial columns that
such publicity was a bad policy. Yet this was not incon-
sistent. I am referring to the incident by way of illustrat-
ing what I just said about the newspapers representing the
practical idealism of America. As practical newsmen they
printed the facts. As editorial idealists they protested that
there ought to be no such facts available.

Some people feel concerned about the commercialism of
the press. They note that great newspapers are great busi-
ness enterprises earning large profits and controlled by men
of wealth. So they fear that in such control the press may
tend to support the private interests of those who own the
papers, rather than the general interest of the whole peo-
ple. It seems to me, however, that the real test is not
whether the newspapers are controlled by men of wealth,
but whether they are sincerely trying to serve the public
interests. There will be little occasion for worry about who
owns a newspaper, so long as its attitudes on public ques-
tions are such as to promote the general welfare. A press
which is actuated by the purpose of genuine usefulness to
the public interest can never be too strong financially, so
long as its strength is used for the support of popular gov-
ernment.

There does not seem to be cause for alarm in the dual
relationship of the press to the public, whereby it is on one
side a purveyor of information and opinion and on the
other side a purely business enterprise. Rather, it is prob-
able that a press which maintains an intimate touch with
the business currents of the nation, is likely to be more re-
liable than it would be if it were a stranger to these influ-
ences. After all, the chief business of the American people
is business. They are profoundly concerned with produc-

188 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world.
I am strongly of opinion that the great majority of people
will always find these are moving impulses of our life. The
opposite view was oracularly and poetically set forth in
those lines of Goldsmith which everybody repeats, but few
really believe:

111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.

Excellent poetry, but not a good working philosophy.
Goldsmith would have been right, if, in fact, the accumula-
tion of wealth meant the decay of men. It is rare indeed
that the men who are accumulating wealth decay. It is
only when they cease production, when accumulation stops,
that an irreparable decay begins. Wealth is the product of
industry, ambition, character and untiring effort. In all
experience, the accumulation of wealth means the multipli-
cation of schools, the increase of knowledge, the dissemina-
tion of intelligence, the encouragement of science, the
broadening of outlook, the expansion of liberties, the widen-
ing of culture. Of course, the accumulation of wealth can-
not be justified as the chief end of existence. But we are
compelled to recognize it as a means to well-nigh every
desirable achievement. So long as wealth is made the
means and not the end, we need not greatly fear it. And
there never was a time when wealth was so generally re-
garded as a means, or so little regarded as an end, as today.
Just a little time ago we read in your newspapers that
two leaders of American business, whose efforts at accumu-
lation had been most astonishingly successful, had given
fifty or sixty million dollars as endowments to educational
works. That was real news. It was characteristic of our
American experience with men of large resources. They
use their power to serve, not themselves and their own
families, but the public. I feel sure that the coming gen-

THE PRESS UNDER A FREE GOVERNMENT 189

erations, which will benefit by those endowments, will not
be easily convinced that they have suffered greatly because
of these particular accumulations of wealth.

So there is little cause for the fear that our journalism,
merely because it is prosperous, is likely to betray us. But
it calls for additional effort to avoid even the appearance of
the evil of selfishness. In every worthy profession, of
course, there will always be a minority who will appeal to
the baser instinct. There always have been, and probably
always will be some who will feel that their own temporary
interest may be furthered by betraying the interest of
others. But these are becoming constantly a less numerous
and less potential element in the community. Their influ-
ence, whatever it may seem at a particular moment, is al-
ways ephemeral. They will not long interfere with the
progress of the race which is determined to go its own for-
ward and upward way. They may at times somewhat re-
tard and delay its progress, but in the end their opposition
will be overcome. They have no permanent effect. They
accomplish no permanent result. The race is not traveling
in that direction. The power of the spirit always prevails
over the power of the flesh. These furnish us no justifica-
tion for interfering with the freedom of the press, because
all freedom, though it may sometime tend toward excesses,
bears within it those remedies which will finally effect a
cure for its own disorders.

American newspapers have seemed to me to be particu-
larly representative of this practical idealism of our people.
Therefore, I feel secure in saying that they are the best
newspapers in the world. I believe that they print more real
news and more reliable and characteristic news than any
other newspaper. I believe their editorial opinions are less
colored in influence by mere partisanship or selfish interest,
than are those of any other country. Moreover, I believe
that our American press is more independent, more reliable

190 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

and less partisan today than at any other time in its his-
tory. I believe this of our press, precisely as I believe it of
those who manage our public affairs. Both are cleaner,
finer, less influenced by improper considerations, than ever
before. Whoever disagrees with this judgment must take
the chance of marking himself as ignorant of conditions
which notoriously affected our public life, thoughts and
methods, even within the memory of many men who are
still among us.

It can safely be assumed that self-interest will always
place sufficient emphasis on the business side of newspapers,
so that they do not need any outside encouragement for
that part of their activities. Important, however, as this
factor is, it is not the main element which appeals to the
American people. It is only those who do not understand
our people, who believe that our national life is entirely
absorbed by material motives. We make no concealment
of the fact that we want wealth, but there are many other
things that we want very much more. We want peace and
honor, and that charity which is so strong an element of all
civilization. The chief ideal of the American people is
idealism. I cannot repeat too often that America is a na-
tion of idealists. That is the only motive to which they
ever give any strong and lasting reaction. No newspaper
can be a success which fails to appeal to that element of
our national life. It is in this direction that the public
press can lend its strongest support to our Government. I
could not truly criticize the vast importance of the counting
room, but my ultimate faith I would place in the high
idealism of the editorial room of the American newspaper.

1
XXI ii

We have been, and propose to be, more and more

American. We believe that we can best serve

our own country and most successfully discharge 8I

our obligations to humanity by continuing to be '1

openly and candidly, intensely and scrupulously,

American. If we have any heritage, it has been 1

that . If we have any destiny, we have found it «

in that direction.

i|

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INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925.

No one can contemplate current conditions without find-
ing much that is satisfying and still more that is encourag-
ing. Our own country is leading the world in the general
readjustment to the results of the great conflict. Many
of its burdens will bear heavily upon us for years, and sec-
ondary and indirect effects we must expect to experience
for some time. But we are beginning to comprehend more
definitely what course should be pursued, what remedies
ought to be applied, what actions should be taken for our
deliverance, and are clearly manifesting a determined will
faithfully and conscientiously to adopt these methods of
relief. Already we have sufficiently rearranged our domes-
tic affairs so that confidence has returned, business has re-
vived, and we appear to be entering an era of prosperity
which is gradually reaching into every part of the Nation.
Realizing that we can not live unto ourselves alone, we
have contributed of our resources and our counsel to the
relief of the suffering and the settlement of the disputes
among the European nations. Because of what America
is and what America has done, a firmer courage, a higher
hope, inspires the heart of all humanity.

These results have not occurred by mere chance. They
have been secured by a constant and enlightened effort
marked by many sacrifices and extending over many gen-
erations. We can not continue these brilliant successes in
the future, unless we continue to learn from the past. It
is necessary to keep the former experiences of our country
both at home and abroad continually before us, if we are
to have any science of government. If we wish to erect

193

194 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the
old foundations. We must realize that human nature is
about the most constant thing in the universe and that the
essentials of human relationship do not change. We must
frequently take our bearings from these fixed stars of our
political firmament if we expect to hold a true course. If
we examine carefully what we have done, we can determine
the more accurately what we can do.

We stand at the opening of the one hundred and fiftieth
year since our national consciousness first asserted itself by
unmistakable action with an array of force. The old senti-
ment of detached and dependent colonies disappeared in
the new sentiment of a united and independent Nation.
Men began to discard the narrow confines of a local charter
for the broader opportunities of a national constitution.
Under the eternal urge of freedom we became an independ-
ent Nation. A little less than fifty years later that freedom
and independence were reasserted in the face of all the
world, and guarded, supported, and secured by the Monroe
Doctrine. The narrow fringe of States along the Atlantic
seaboard advanced its frontiers across the hills and plains
of an intervening continent until it passed down the golden
slope to the Pacific. We made freedom a birthright. We
extended our domain over distant islands in order to safe-
guard our own interests and accepted the consequent obli-
gation to bestow justice and liberty upon less favored
peoples. In the defense of our own ideals and in the general
cause of liberty we entered the Great War. When victory
had been fully secured, we withdrew to our own shores
and unrecompensed save in the consciousness of duty done.

Throughout all these experiences we have enlarged our
freedom, we have strengthened our independence. We
have been, and propose to be, more and more American.
We believe that we can best serve our own country and
most successfully discharge our obligations to humanity

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 195

by continuing to be openly and candidly, intensely and
scrupulously, American. If we have any heritage, it has
been that. If we have any destiny, we have found it in that
direction.

But if we wish to continue to be distinctly American,
we must continue to make that term comprehensive enough
to embrace the legitimate desires of a civilized and enlight-
ened people determined in all their relations to pursue a
conscientious and religious life. We can not permit our-
selves to be narrowed and dwarfed by slogans and phrases.
It is not the adjective, but the substantive, which is of
real importance. It is not the name of the action, but
the result of the action, which is the chief concern. It will
be well not to be too much disturbed by the thought of
either isolation or entanglements of pacifists and militarists.
The physical configuration of the earth has separated us
from all of the Old World, but the common brotherhood
of man, the highest law of all our being, has united us by
inseparable bonds with all humanity. Our country rep-
resents nothing but peaceful intentions toward all the earth,
but it ought not to fail to maintain such a military force
as comports with the dignity and security of a great people.
It ought to be a balanced force, intensely modern, capable
of defense by sea and land, beneath the surface and in the
air. But it should be so conducted that all the world may
see in it, not a menace, but an instrument of security and
peace.

This Nation believes thoroughly in an honorable peace
under which the rights of its citizens are to be everywhere
protected. It has never found that the necessary enjoy-
ment of such a peace could be maintained only by a great
and threatening array of arms. In common with other na-
tions, it is now more determined than ever to promote
peace through friendliness and good will, through mutual
understandings and mutual forbearance. We have never

I

196 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

practiced the policy of competitive armaments. We have
recently committed ourselves by covenants with the other
great nations to a limitation of our sea power. As one re-
sult of this, our Navy ranks larger, in comparison, than it
ever did before. Removing the burden of expense and
jealously, which must always accrue from a keen rivalry, is
one of the most effective methods of diminishing that un-
reasonable hysteria and misunderstanding which are the
most potent means of fomenting war. This policy repre-
sents a new departure in the world. It is a thought, an
ideal, which has led to an entirely new line of action. It
will not be easy to maintain. Some never move from their
old position, some are constantly slipping back to the old
ways of thought and the old action of seizing a musket
and relying on force. America has taken the lead in this
new direction, and that lead America must continue to
hold. If we expect others to rely on our fairness and jus-
tice we must show that we rely on their fairness and justice.

If we are to judge by past experience, there is much to
be hoped for in international relations from frequent con-
ferences and consultations. We have before us the bene-
ficial results of the Washington conference and the various
consultations recently held upon European affairs, some
of which were in response to our suggestions and in some
of which we were active participants. Even the failures
can not but be accounted useful and immeasurable advance
over threatened or actual warfare. I am strongly in favor
of a continuation of this policy, whenever conditions are
such that there is even a promise that practical and favor-
able results might be secured.

In conformity with the principle that a display of reason
rather than a threat of force should be the determining fac-
tor in the intercourse among nations, we have long advo-
cated the peaceful settlement of disputes by methods of
arbitration and have negotiated many treaties to secure

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 197

that result. The same considerations should lead to our ad-
herence to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Where great principles are involved, where great move-
ments are under way which promise much for the welfare
of humnaity by reason of the very fact that many other
nations have given such movements their actual support, we
ought not to withhold our own sanction because of any
small and inessential difference, but only upon the ground
of the most important and compelling fundamental rea-
sons. We can not barter away our independence or our
sovereignty, but we ought to engage in no refinements of
logic, no sophistries, and no subterfuges, to argue away the
undoubted duty of this country by reason of the might of
its numbers, the power of its resources, and its position of
leadership in the world, actively and comprehensively to
signify its approval and to bear its full share of the responsi-
bility of a candid and disinterested attempt at the estab-
lishment of a tribunal for the administration of even-handed
justice between nation and nation. The weight of our
enormous influence must be cast upon the side of a reign
not of force but of law and trial, not by battle but by
reason.

We have never any wish to interfere in the political con-
ditions of any other countries. Especially are we deter-
mined not to become implicated in the political contro-
versies of the Old World. With a great deal of hesitation,
we have responded to appeals for help to maintain order,
protect life and property, and establish responsible govern-
ment in some of the small countries of the Western Hemi-
sphere. Our private citizens have advanced large sums of
money to assist in the necessary financing and relief of the
Old World. We have not failed, nor shall we fail to respond,
whenever necessary to mitigate human suffering and assist
in the rehabilitation of distressed nations. These, too, are

I

198 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

requirements which must be met by reason of our vast
powers and the place we hold in the world.

Some of the best thought of mankind has long been
seeking for a formula for permanent peace. Undoubtedly
the clarification of the principles of international law would
be helpful, and the efforts of scholars to prepare such a
work for adoption by the various nations should have our
sympathy and support. Much may be hoped for from the
earnest studies of those who advocate the outlawing of ag-
gressive war. But all these plans and preparations, these
treaties and covenants, will not of themselves be adequate.
One of the greatest dangers to peace lies in the economic
pressure to which people find themselves subjected. One of
most practical things to be done in the world is to seek
arrangements under which such pressure may be removed,
so that opportunity may be renewed and hope may be
revived. There must be some assurance that effort and
endeavor will be followed by success and prosperity. In
the making and financing of such adjustments there is not
only an opportunity, but a real duty, for America to respond
with her counsel and her resources. Conditions must be
provided under which people can make a living and work
out of their difficulties. But there is another element,
more important than all, without which there can not be
the slightest hope of a permanent peace. That element lies
in the heart of humanity. Unless the desire for peace be
cherished there, unless this fundamental and only natural
source of brotherly love be cultivated to its highest degree,
all artificial efforts will be in vain. Peace will come when
there is realization that only under a reign of law, based
on righteousness and supported by the religious conviction
of the brotherhood of man, can there be any hope of a
complete and satisfying life. Parchment will fail, the
sword will fail, it is only the spiritual nature of man that
can be triumphant.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 199

It seems altogether probable that we can contribute most
to these important objects by maintaining our position of
political detachment and independence. We are not identi-
fied with any Old World interests. This position should be
made more and more clear in our relations with all foreign
countries. We are at peace with all of them. Our program
is never to oppress, but always to assist. But while we
do justice to others, we must require that justice be done
to us. With us a treaty of peace means peace, and a treaty
of amity means amity. We have made great contributions
to the settlement of contentious differences in both Eu-
rope and Asia. But there is a very definite point beyond
which we can not go. We can only help those who help
themselves. Mindful of these limitations, the one great
duty that stands out requires us to use our enormous powers
to trim the balance of the world.

While we can look with a great deal of pleasure upon
what we have done abroad, we must remember that our
continued success in that direction depends upon what we
do at home. Since its very outset, it has been found neces-
sary to conduct our Government by means of political
parties. That system would not have survived from gen-
eration to generation if it had not been fundamentally
sound and provided the best instrumentalities for the most
complete expression of the popular will. It is not neces-
sary to claim that it has always worked perfectly. It is
enough to know that nothing better has been devised. No
one would deny that there should be full and free expres-
sion and an opportunity for independence of action within
the party. There is no salvation in a narrow and bigoted
partisanship. But if there is to be responsible party govern-
ment, the party label must be something more than a
mere device for securing office. Unless those who are elected
under the same party designation are willing to assume suf-
ficient responsibility and exhibit sufficient loyalty and co-

200 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

herence, so that they can cooperate with each other in the
support of the broad general principles of the party plat-
form, the election is merely a mockery, no decision is made
at the polls, and there is no representation of the popular
will. Common honesty and good faith with the people who
support a party at the polls require that party, when it
enters office, to assume the control of that portion of the
Government to which it has been elected. Any other course
is bad faith and a violation of the party pledges.

When the country has bestowed its confidence upon a
party by making it a majority in the Congress, it has a
right to expect such unity of action as will make the party
majority an effective instrument of government. This ad-
ministration has come into power with a very clear and
definite mandate from the people. The expression of the
popular will in favor of maintaining our constitutional
guarantees was overwhelming and decisive. There was a
manifestation of such faith in the integrity of the courts
that we can consider that issue rejected for some time to
come. Likewise, the policy of public ownership of railroads
and certain electric utilities met with unmistakable defeat.
The people declared that they wanted their rights to have
not a political but a judicial determination, and their in-
dependence and freedom continued and supported by hav-
ing the ownership and control of their property, not in the
Government, but in their own hands. As they always do
when they have a fair chance, the people demonstrated
that they are sound and are determined to have a sound
government.

When we turn from what was rejected to inquire what
was accepted, the policy that stands out with the greatest
clearness is that of economy in public expenditure with re-
duction and reform of taxation. The principle involved in
this effort is that of conservation. The resources of this
country are almost beyond computation. No mind can

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 201

comprehend them. But the cost of our combined govern-
ments is likewise almost beyond definition. Not only those
who are now making their tax returns, but those who meet
the enhanced cost of existence in their monthly bills, know
by hard experience what this great burden is and what it
does. No matter what others may want, these people
want a drastic economy. They are opposed to waste. They
know that extravagance lengthens the hours and diminishes
the rewards of their labor. I favor the policy of economy,
not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to
save people. The men and women of this country who
toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government.
Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life
will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we
prudently save means that their life will be so much the
more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical
form.

If extravagance were not reflected in taxation, and
through taxation both directly and indirectly injuriously
affecting the people, it would not be of so much conse-
quence. The wisest and soundest method of solving our
tax problem is through economy. Fortunately, of all the
great nations this country is best in a position to adopt that
simple remedy. We do not any longer need war-time rev-
enues. The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely
required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute
to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny.
Under this Republic the rewards of industry belong to those
who earn them. The only constitutional tax is the tax
which ministers to public necessity. The property of the
country belongs to the people of the country. Their title
is absolute. They do not support any privileged class ; they
do not need to maintain great military forces; they ought
not to be burdened with a great array of public employees.
They are not required to make any contribution to Govern-

202 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ment expenditures except that which they voluntarily
assess upon themselves through the action of their own
representatives. Whenever taxes bcome burdensome a
remedy can be applied by the people; but if they do not
act for themselves, no one can be very successful in acting
for them.

The time is arriving when we can have further tax re-
duction, when, unless we wish to hamper the people in
their right to earn a living, we must have tax reform. The
method of raising revenue ought not to impede the trans-
action of business; it ought to encourage it. I am opposed
to extremely high rates, because they produce little or no
revenue, because they are bad for the country, and, finally,
because they are wrong. We can not finance the country,
we can not improve social conditions, through any system
of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich.
Those who suffer the most harm will be the poor. This
country believes in prosperity. It is absurd to suppose that
it is envious of those who are already prosperous. The
wise and correct course to follow in taxation and all other
economic legislation is not to destroy those who have al-
ready secured success but to create conditions under which
every one will have a better chance to be successful. The
verdict of the country has been given on this question.
That verdict stands. We shall do well to heed it.

These questions involve moral issues. We need not con-
cern ourselves much about the rights of property if we will
faithfully observe the rights of persons. Under our institu-
tions their rights are supreme. It is not property but the
right to hold property, both great and small, which our Con-
stitution guarantees. All owners of property are charged
with a service. These rights and duties have been revealed,
through the conscience of society, to have a divine sanc-
tion. The very stability of our society rests upon produc-
tion and conservation. For individuals or for governments

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 203

to waste and squander their resources is to deny these rights
and disregard these obligations. The result of economic
dissipation to a nation is always moral decay.

These policies of better international understandings,
greater economy, and lower taxes have contributed largely
to peaceful and prosperous industrial relations. Under the
helpful influences of restrictive immigration and a protec-
tive tariff, employment is plentiful, the rate of pay is high,
and wage earners are in a state of contentment seldom be-
fore seen. Our transportation systems have been gradually
recovering and have been able to meet all the require-
ments of the service. Agriculture has been very slow in
reviving, but the price of cereals at last indicates that the
day of its deliverance is at hand.

We are not without our problems, but our most impor-
tant problem is not to secure new advantages but to main-
tain those which we already possess. Our system of govern-
ment made up of three separate and independent depart-
ments, our divided sovereignty composed of Nation and
State, the matchless wisdom that is enshrined in our Con-
stitution, all these need constant effort and tireless vigil-
ance for their protection and support.

In a republic the first rule for the guidance of the citizen
is obedience to law. Under a despotism the law may be
imposed upon the subject. He has no voice in its making,
no influence in its administration, it does not represent him.
Under a free government the citizen makes his own laws,
chooses his own administrators, which do represent him.
Those who want their rights respected under the Constitu-
tion and the law ought to set the example themselves of
observing the Constitution and the law. While there may
be those of high intelligence who violate the law at times,
the barbarian and the defective always violate it. Those
who disregard the rules of society are not exhibiting a su-
perior intelligence, are not promoting freedom and inde-

204 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

pendence, are not following the path of civilization, but are
displaying the traits of ignorance, of servitude, of savag-
ery, and treading the way that leads back to the jungle.

The essence of a republic is representative government.
Our Congress represents the people and the States. In all
legislative affairs it is the natural collaborator with the
President. In spite of all the criticism which often falls
to its lot, I do not hesitate to say that there is no more in-
dependent and effective legislative body in the world. It
is, and should be, jealous of its prerogative. I welcome its
cooperation, and expect to share with it not only the re-
sponsibility, but the credit, for our common effort to secure
beneficial legislation.

These are some of the principles which America repre-
sents. We have not by any means put them fully into
practice, but we have strongly signified our belief in them.
The encouraging feature of our country is not that it has
reached its destination, but that it has overwhelmingly ex-
pressed its determination to proceed in the right direction.
It is true that we could, with profit, be less sectional and
more national in our thought. It would be well if we
could replace much that is only a false and ignorant preju-
dice with a true and enlightened pride of race. But the
last election showed that appeals to class and nationality
had little effect. We were all found loyal to a common
citizenship. The fundamental precept of liberty is tolera-
tion. We can not permit any inquisition either within or
without the law or apply any religious test to the holding
of office. The mind of America must be forever free.

It is in such contemplations, my fellow countrymen, which
are not exhaustive but only representative, that I find ample
warrant for satisfaction and encouragement. We should
not let the much that is to do obscure the much which has
been done. The past and present show faith and hope and
courage fully justified. Here stands our country, an ex-

u

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1925 205

ample of tranquillity at home, a patron of tranquillity
abroad. Here stands its Government, aware of its might
but obedient to its conscience. Here it will continue to
stand, seeking peace and prosperity, solicitous for the wel-
fare of the wage earner, promoting enterprise, developing
waterways and natural resources, attentive to the intuitive
counsel of womanhood, encouraging education, desiring the
advancement of religion, supporting the cause of justice
and honor among the nations. America seeks no earthly
empire built on blood and force. No ambition, no tempta-
tion, lures her to thought of foreign dominions. The
legions which she sends forth are armed, not with the sword,
but with the cross. The higher state to which she seeks
the allegiance of all mankind is not of human, but of divine
origin. She cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of
Almighty God.

iiu

N 0

111

inn

XXII

It must be our untiring effort, to maintain, to
improve, and, so far as may be humanly possible,
to perfect those institutions which have proved
capable of guaranteeing our unity, and strength-
ening us in advancing the estate of the common
man.

4

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mi

IBMEI

11

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MR!

THE SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION OF AMERICA

We have gathered this afternoon to lay with appropriate
ceremony and solemnity the cornerstone of a temple. The
splendid structure which is to rise here will be the home
of the Jewish Community Center of Washington. It will
be at once a monument to the achievements of the past,
and a help in the expansion of these achievements into a
wider field of usefulness in the future. About this institu-
tion will be organized, and from it will be radiated, the
influences of those civic works in which the genius of the
Jewish people has always found such eloquent expression.
Such an establishment, so noble in its physical proportions,
so generous in its social purposes, is truly a part of the civic
endowment of the nation's capital. Beyond that, its ex-
istence here at the seat of the national government makes
it in a peculiar way a testimony and an example before the
entire country.

This year 1925 is a year of national anniversaries, States,
cities, and towns throughout all the older part of the coun-
try will be celebrating their varied parts in the historic
events which a century and half ago marked the beginning
of the American Revolution. It will be a year of dedica-
tions and re-dedications. It will recall the heroic events
from which emerged a great modern nation consecrated to
liberty, equality, and human rights. It will remind us, as
a nation, of how a common spiritual inspiration was po-
tent to bring and mold and weld together into a national
unity, the many and scattered colonial communities that

At the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Jewish Community Center,
Washington, May 3, 1925.

209

210 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

had been planted along the Atlantic seaboard. In a time
when the need of that unification, understanding and tol-
erance, which are necessary to a national spirit, is so great,
it will recall the fact that the fathers not only confronted
these same problems in forms far more difficult than they
are today, but also solved them.

Among the peoples of the thirteen colonies, there were
few ties of acquaintance, of commercial or industrial in-
terest. There were great differences in political sentiments,
even within the local communities, while there were wide
divergences among the several colonies, in origin, in religion,
in social outlook.

If we would seek a fairly accurate impression of conditions
at the beginning of the Revolution, we must attempt a
really continental view of North America as it was in 1775.
The group of new-born commonwealths which we commonly
refer to as "the original thirteen colonies", and which in our
minds represent a considerable measure of nationality al-
ready achieved, did not in fact even know that they would
be thirteen in number. No man, on the day of Lexington,
could be altogether sure that the Revolution was more than
a New England affair. It might or it might not draw the
middle and southern colonies into its armed array of resist-
ence. On the other hand, the thirteen might have been
joined by Canada, which was British in sovereignty, but
chiefly French in population, by Florida and Louisiana,
which were both mainly Spanish. In short, there might
have been fourteen, or fifteen, or sixteen .original colonies
participating in the North American revolution against
Europe, or there might have been less than a half dozen of
them.

At that time, France had no territory within continental
North America. But this condition had existed for only
a short time since the end of the Seven Years war. France
had by no means become reconciled to this exclusion from

SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION 211

a part in the North American empire ; and only a little later,
in the year 1800, under a new treaty with Spain, resumed
the sovereignty of the Mississippi Valley. Three years
after this, benefiting by the fortunes of the Napoleonic
wars, President Jefferson confronted, and promptly seized
the opportunity to buy Louisiana from Napoleon. Even
then, many years were yet to pass before the last claims
of Spain should be extinguished from this continent.

I have recounted these scraps of territorial history be-
cause unless we keep them in mind we shall not at all
comprehend the task of unification, of nation building,
that the Revolutionary fathers undertook when they not
only dared the power of Great Britain, but set themselves
against the tradition of the subordination to Europe of
America. As we look back, we realize that even among
the colonies of England there were few and doubtful com-
mon concerns to bind them together. Their chief com-
mercial interests were not among themselves, but with the
mother country across the Atlantic. New England was
predominantly Puritan, the southern colonies were basically
cavalier. New York was in the main Dutch. Pennsyl-
vania had been founded by the Quakers, while New Jersey
needed to go back but a short distance to find its begin-
nings in a migration from Sweden.

There were well-nigh as many divergencies of religious
faith as there were of origin, politics and geography. Yet,
in the end, these religious differences proved rather unim-
portant. While the early dangers in some colonies made
a unity in belief and all else a necessity to existence, at
the bottom of the colonial character lay a stratum of re-
ligious liberalism which had animated most of the early
comers. From its beginnings, the new continent had
seemed destined to be the home of religious tolerance.
Those who claimed the right of individual choice for them-
selves finally had to grant it to others. Beyond that — and

212 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

this was one of the factors which I think weighed heaviest
on the side of unity — the Bible was the one work of litera-
ture that was common to all of them. The scriptures were
read and studied everywhere. There are many testimonies
that their teachings became the most important intellec-
tual and spiritual force for unification. I remember to
have read somewhere, I think in the writings of the historian
Lecky, the observation that "Hebraic mortar cemented the
foundations of American democracy." Lecky had in mind
this very influence of the Bible in drawing together the
feelings and sympathies of the widely scattered commu-
nities. All the way from New Hampshire to Georgia, they
found a common ground of faith and reliance in the scrip-
tural writings.

In those days books were few, and even those of a secu-
lar character were largely the product of a scholarship which
used the scriptures as the model and standard of social
interpretation. It was to this, of course, that Lecky re-
ferred. He gauged correctly a force too often underesti-
mated and his observation was profoundly wise. It sug-
gests, in a way which none of us can fail to understand,
the debt which the young American nation owed to the
sacred writing that the Hebrew people gave to the world.

This biblical influence was strikingly impressive in all
the New England colonies, and only less so in the others.
In the Connecticut code of 1650, the Mosaic model is
adopted. The magistrates were authorized to administer
justice "according to the laws here established, and, for
want of them, according to the word of God." In the New
Haven code of 1655, there were 79 topical statutes for the
Government, half of which contained references to the Old
Testament. The founders of the New Haven colony, John
Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, were expert Hebrew
scholars. The extent to which they leaned upon the moral
and administrative system, laid down by the Hebrew law-

SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION 213

givers, was responsible for their conviction that the Hebrew
language and literature ought to be made as familiar as pos-
sible to all the people. So it was that John Davenport ar-
ranged that in the first public school in New Haven the
Hebrew language should be taught. The preachers of those
days, saturated in the religion and literature of the Hebrew
prophets, were leaders, teachers, moral mentors and even
political philosophers for their flocks. A people raised under
such leadership, given to much study and contemplation
of the scriptures, inevitably became more familiar with the
great figures of Hebrew history, with Joshua, Samuel, Moses,
Joseph, David, Solomon, Gideon, Elisha — than they were
with the stories of their own ancestors as recorded in the
pages of profane history.

The sturdy old divines of those days found the Bible
a chief source of illumination for their arguments in sup-
port of the patriot cause. They knew the Book. They were
profoundly familiar with it, and eminently capable in the
exposition of all its justifications for rebellion. To them,
the record of the exodus from Egypt was indeed an inspired
precedent. They knew what arguments from holy writ
would most powerfully influence their people. It required
no great stretch of logical processes to demonstrate that the
children of Israel, making bricks without straw in Egypt,
had their modern counterpart in the people of the colonies,
enduring the imposition of taxation without representation !

And the Jews themselves, of whom a considerable num-
ber were already scattered throughout the colonies, were
true to the teachings of their own prophets. The Jewish
faith is predominantly the faith of liberty. From the be-
ginnings of the conflict between the colonies and the mother
country, they were overwhelmingly on the side of the rising
revolution. You will recognize them when I read the names
of some among the merchants who unhesitatingly signed
the non-importation resolution of 1765: Isaac Moses, Ben-

214 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

jamin Levy, Samson Levy, David Franks, Joseph Jacobs,
Hayman Levy, Jr.; Matthias Bush, Michael Gratz, Ber-
nard Gratz, Isaac Franks, Moses Mordecai, Benjamin Ja-
cobs, Samuel Lyon and Manuel Mordecai Noah.

Not only did the colonial Jews join early and enthusi-
astically in the non-intercourse program, but when the
time came for raising and sustaining an army, they were
ready to serve wherever they could be most useful. There
is a romance in the story of Haym Solomon, Polish Jew
financier of the Revolution. Born in Poland, he was made
prisoner by the British forces in New York, and when he
escaped set up in business in Philadelphia. He negotiated
for Robert Morris all the loans raised in France and Hol-
land, pledged his personal faith and fortune for enormous
amounts, and personally advanced large sums to such men
as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Baron Steuben, Gen-
eral St. Clair, and many other patriot leaders who testified
that without his aid they could not have carried on in
the cause.

A considerable number of Jews became officers in the
continental forces. The records show at least four Jews
who served as Lieutenant Colonels, three as Majors and
certainly six, probably more, as Captains. Major Benja-
min Nones has been referred to as the Jewish Lafayette.
He came from France in 1777, enlisted in the continentals
as a volunteer private, served on the staffs of both Wash-
ington and Lafayette, and later was attached to the com-
mand of Baron De Kalb, in which were a number of Jews.
When De Kalb was fatally wounded in the thickest of the
fighting at the Battle of Camden, the three officers who
were at hand to bear him from the field were Major Nones,
Captain De La Motta, and Captain Jacob De Leon, all of
them Jews. It is interesting to know that at the time of
the Revolution there was a larger Jewish element in the
southern colonies than would have been found there at

SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION 215

most later periods; and these Jews of the Carolinas and
Georgia were ardent supporters of the Revolution. One
corps of infantry raised in Charleston, South Carolina, was
composed preponderantly of Jews, and they gave a splendid
account of themselves in the fighting in that section.

It is easy to understand why a people ^-llh the historic
background of the Jews should thus overwhelmingly and
unhesitatingly have allied themselves with the cause of
freedom. From earliest colonial times, America has been
a new land of promise to this long-persecuted race.

The Jewish community of the United States is not only
the second most numerous in the world, but in respect of its
old world origins it is probably the most cosmopolitan.
But whatever their origin as a people, they have always
come to us eager to adapt themselves to our institutions,
to thrive under the influence of liberty, to take their full
part as citizens in building and sustaining the nation, and
to bear their part in its defense ; in order to make a contri-
bution to the national life, fully worthy of the traditions
they had inherited.

The institution for which we are today dedicating this
splendid home, is not a charity to minister to the body, but
rather to the soul. The 14,000 Jews who live in this Capital
City have passed, under the favoring auspices of Ameri-
can institutions, beyond the need for any other benevo-
lence. They are planting here a home for community serv-
ice ; fixing a center from which shall go forth the radiations
of united effort for advancement in culture, in education, in
social opportunity. Here will be the seat of organized in-
fluence for the preservation and dissemination of all that
is best and most useful, of all that is leading and enlight-
ening, in the culture and philosophy of this "peculiar
people" who have so greatly given to the advancement of
humanity.

Our country has done much for the Jews who have come

216 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

here to accept its citizenship and assume their share of its
responsibilities in the world. But I think the greatest
thing it has done for them has been to receive them and
treat them precisely as it has received and treated all others
who have come to it. If our experiment in free institutions
has proved anything, it is that the greatest privilege that
can be conferred upon people in the mass is to free them
from the demoralizing influence of privilege enjoyed by the
few. This is proved by the experience here, not alone of
the Jews, but of all the other racial and national elements
that have entered into the making of this Nation. We
have found that when men and women are left free to find
the places for which they are best fitted, some few of them
will indeed attain less exalted stations than under a regime
of privilege; but the vast multitude will rise to a higher
level, to wider horizons, to worthier attainments.

To go forward on the same broadening lines that have
marked the national development thus far must be our
aim. It is an easy thing to say, but not so simple to do.
There is no straight and smooth and posted highway into
the vast, dim realm of the tomorrows. There are bogs
and morasses, blind roads and bad detours. No philosophy
of history has ever succeeded in charting accurately
the future. No science of social engineering has been able
to build wide apd easy roads by which to bring up the van
of human progress in sure and easy marches. The race is
always pioneering. It always has been and always must
be. It dare not tire of unending effort and repeated dis-
appointments. It must not in any moment of weariness
or inertia cease from pressing on. Least of all can we in-
dulge the satisfactions of complacency, imagining that the
sum of useful progress has been attained. The community
or the civilization that ceases to progress, begins that hour
to recede.

The work of spiritual unification is not completed.

SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION 217

Factional, sectional, social and political lines of conflict yet
persist. Despite all experience, society continues to en-
gender the hatreds and jealousies whereof are born domestic
strife and international conflicts. But education and en-
lightenment are breaking their force. Reason is emerging.
Every inheritance of the Jewish people, every teaching of
their secular history and religious experience, draws them
powerfully to the side of charity, liberty and progress.
They have always been arrayed on this side, and we may
be sure they will not desert it. Made up of so many diverse
elements, our country must cling to those fundamentals
that have been tried and proved as buttresses of national
solidarity.

It must be our untiring effort to maintain, to improve,
and, so far as may be humanly possible, to perfect those
institutions which have proved capable of guaranteeing our
unity, and strengthening us in advancing the estate of the
common man. This edifice which you are rearing here
is a fine example for other communities. It speaks a pur-
pose to uphold an ancient and noble philosophy of life and
living, and yet to assure that such philosophy shall always
be adapted to the requirements of changing times, increas-
ing knowledge and developing institutions. It is a guar-
antee that you will keep step with liberty.

This capacity for adaptation in detail, without sacrifice
of essentials, has been one of the special lessons which the
marvelous history of the Jewish people has taught. It is a
lesson which our country, and every country based on the
principle of popular government, must learn and apply,
generation by generation, year by year, yes, even day by
day. You are raising here a testimonial to the capacity of
the Jewish people to do this. In the advancing years, as
those who come and go shall gaze upon this civic and social
landmark, may it be a constant reminder of the inspiring
service that has been rendered to civilization by men and

Ufa

218 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

women of the Jewish faith. May they recall the long array
of those who have been eminent in statecraft, in science, in
literature, in art, in the professions, in business, in finance,
in philanthropy and in the spiritual life of the world. May
they pause long enough to contemplate that the patriots
who laid the foundation of this Republic drew their faith
from the Bible. May they give due credit to the people
among whom the Holy Scriptures came into being. And
as they ponder the assertion that "Hebraic mortar cemented
the foundations of American democracy," they cannot es-
cape the conclusion that if American democracy is to remain
the greatest hope of humanity, it must continue abun-
dantly in the faith of the Bible.

**TWJ

1

I

XXIII j

1

Our country was conceived in the theory of local
self-government. It has been dedicated by long
practice to that wise and beneficent policy. It I

is the foundation principle of our system of lib-
erty. It makes the largest promise to the free- i]
dom and development of the individual. Its
preservation is worth all the effort and all the
sacrifice that it may cost.

THE REIGN OF LAW

For those who are the inheritors of a noble estate and a
high place in the world, it is a good thing to pause at in-
tervals and consider by what favor of fortune and of an-
cestry their lines have fallen in such pleasant places. Thus
to meditate upon that course of events, which has given
them what they have and made them what they are, will
tend to remind them how great is their debt and how little
is their share of merit.

This is the day on which the American people each year
acknowledged that they have such a debt. It has been set
aside that a grateful Nation may do fitting honor to the
memory of those who have made the greatest and most
voluntary contribution to it. Here about us, in this place
of beauty and reverence, lies the mortal dust of a noble
host, to whom we have come to pay our tribute, as thou-
sands of other like gatherings will do throughout our land.
In their youth and strength, their love and loyalty, those
who rest here gave to their country all that mortality can
give. For what they sacrificed we must give back the pledge
of faith to all that they held dear, constantly renewed, con-
stantly justified. Doing less would betray them and dis-
honor us.

To such a memorial as exists here we can only come in
a spirit of humility and of gratitude. We can not hope to
repay those whom we are assembled to honor. They were
moved by a noble conception of human possibilities and
human destiny. But we can undertake to find what was

At the Memorial Exercises, Arlington National Cemetery, Washington,
D. C, May 30, 1925.

221

222 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

their inspiration and seek to make it our guide. By that
they will be recompensed.

These who are represented here were men in whom
courage had reached a high moral quality. They had been
brave enough not to shrink from looking at facts and
institutions. They had been honest enough to admit that
they saw there much that was not good. They glossed over
no wrongs, they hid away no skeletons. They did not pre-
tend that wrong was right or ever could be right. They
had put much thought to the lessons of hard experience,
and had frankly acknowledged that they must deal with
a crisis in the Nation's life. They were sure that union
was a blessing, that slavery was a wrong, and that domestic
war was the supreme human tragedy. This settled, they
saw that one of three courses must be taken. They could
have had peace with disunion, or they could have had peace
and union, with slavery. Freedom with union, they saw
at last, meant war. We know how they decided. We know
at what fearful cost they supported their decision.

We live far enough away from those times of test and trial
to know that sincerity and honesty did not all lie on either
side. We know the conflicts of loyalties, traditions, ances-
try, and interest which drew men to one side and the other.
I doubt if there ever was another so great and elemental a
conflict from which men emerged with so much of mutual
respect, with so little of bitterness and lingering hostility.
The struggle brought the whole Nation at last to see that
its only assurance was in unity. United, it could go its way
in all security; divided, both sections becoming the prey
of jealousy and intrigue, would have dissipated all the
power they now have for good in the world.

Our generation has recently lived through times still so
vivid as to seem but as yesterday, which have taught us
deeply to appreciate the value of union in purpose and
effort. We have come to see as through a crystal that in

MMBH

THE REIGN OF LAW 223

the national variety of talents and resources, of cultures
and capacities, of climates and of soils, of occupations and
of interests, lies the guaranty of both our power and our
authority. More than that, they have taught us how heavy
and important is our responsibility in the world.

Conscious of a strength which removes us from either
fear or truculence, satisfied with dominions and resources
which free us from lust of territory or empire, we see that
our highest interest will be promoted by the prosperity
and progress of our neighbors. We recognize that what has
been accomplished here has largely been due to the ca-
pacity of our people for efficient cooperation. We shall
continue prosperous at home and helpful abroad, about as
we shall maintain and continually adapt to changing condi-
tions the system under which we have come thus far. I
mean our Federal system, distributing powers and responsi-
bilities between the States and the National Government.
For that is the greatest American contribution to the organ-
ization of government over great populations and wide
areas. It is the essence of practical administration for a
nation placed as ours is. It has become so commonplace
to us, and a pattern by so many other peoples, that we do
not always realize how great an innovation it was when
first formulated, or how great the practical problems which
its operation involves. Because of my conviction that some
of these problems are at this time in need of deeper con-
sideration, I shall take this occasion to try to turn the public
mind in that direction.

When dealing with the distribution of powers between
the General Government and the States, Chief Justice
Marshall declared:

"When the American people created a national legislature,
with certain enumerated powers, it was neither necessary
nor proper to define the powers retained by the States.
Those powers proceed, not from the people of America, but

224 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

from the people of the several States, and remain after the
adoption of the Constitution what they were before, except
in so far as they may be abridged by that instrument,"

Our constitutional history started with the States re-
taining all powers of sovereignty unimpaired, save those
conferred upon the National Government. The evolution
of the constitutional system has consisted largely in de-
termining the line of demarcation between State and na-
tional authority. The cases involved are many and com-
plicated, but there is a fairly good popular understanding
of this continuing struggle between these contending sover-
eignties. Because of better communication and transporta-
tion, the constant tendency has been to more and more
social and economic unification. The present continent-
wide union of forty-eight States is much closer than was the
original group of thirteen States.

This increasing unification has well-nigh obliterated State
lines so far as concerns many relations of life. Yet, in a
country of such enormous expanse, there must always be
certain regional differences in social outlook and economic
thought. The most familiar illustration of this is found in
the history of slavery. The Constitution did not inter-
fere with slavery, except to fix a time when the foreign
slave trade should be abolished. Yet within a generation
the country was confronting a sharp sectional division on
this issue. Changing economic conditions made slavery
profitable in the South, but left it unprofitable in the
North. The resulting war might have been avoided if the
South had adopted a policy of ultimate abolition. But as
this method was not pursued the differences grew sharper
until they brought on the great conflict.

Though the war ended forever the possibility of disunion,
there still remain problems between State and Federal au-
thority. There are divisions of interest, perhaps more ap-
parent than real, among geographical sections or social

amam

THE REIGN OF LAW 225

groups. The seaboard thinks it has interests in maritime
transportation and overseas commerce which differ greatly
from those of the interior, which is peculiarly dependent
upon railroads. Difference in climate and physical condi-
tions throughout so great a territory tend to varied social
habits and modes of living which react upon the economic
and political attitudes. The industrial development of
some sections contrasts with the agricultural character of
others. Obviously, these differences give rise to many
problems in government, which must always be recognized.
But it is hardly conceivable that a really menacing contest
between the sovereignty of the States and of the Union
could ever again arise.

Our country, having devised this dual system of govern-
ment, and lived under it longer than any other, is deeply
concerned to perfect and adapt it to the changing conditions
of organized society. A community comprising half a con-
tinent and more than a hundred million people could not
possibly be administered under a single government or-
ganization. We must maintain a proper measure of local
self-government while constantly making adjustments to
an increasing interdependence among the political parts.

Our national history has presented various phases of this
problem. Slavery showed one; the complexities of inter-
state commerce have kept others constantly in mind. On
the day the Constitution was finished, probably more people
would have seen seeds of conflict and dangers to the Union
in future commercial relations than in slavery. But
commerce became a source of strength, while slavery be-
came a cause of division. It brought the Union into danger ;
and in the end was destroyed itself. Where there was sin-
cere acceptance of the dual sovereignty theory, where the
States sought to do their full part, and accepted the de-
terminations of the National Government as to the rest,
the plan worked. Where the States sought more from the

226 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Federal authority than it could give, and resisted national
demands — then came dissension and, at length, war.

It would be folly to deny that we still have problems of
interstate relations to handle. We boast that this is a land
of equal opportunity for all. We insist that there is one
law for all the people. But that equality suffers often be-
cause of the divergencies between the laws of different
States. So long as some can go to a distant State for di-
vorces which others are denied at home, there is not equal-
ity in this regard. When some States grant valuable ex-
emptions from taxation which other States impose, one
person may enjoy while another is denied these benefits.

A few years ago a majority of the States had adopted
prohibition or rigid restrictions on the traffic in intoxicating
liquor. But other States did not cooperate in advancing
this policy, and ultimately by national action it was ex-
tended to all the Union. By failing to meet the require-
ments of a national demand the States became deprived
of the power to act. If questions which the States will
not fairly settle on their own account shall have to be set-
tled for them by the Federal authority, it will only be be-
cause some States will have refused to discharge obvious
duties.

There is another responsibility of the States. It is quite
aside from this one of jurisdiction. It is the subject of law
enforcement. We are not a lawless people, but we are too
frequently a careless one. The multiplicity of laws, the
varied possibilities of appeals, the disposition to technical-
ity in procedure, the delays and consequent expense of liti-
gation which inevitably inure to the advantage of wealth
and specialized ability — all these have many times been
recounted as reproaches to us. It is strange that such lax-
ities should persist in a time like the present, which is
marked by a determined upward movement in behalf of
the social welfare. But they do exist. They demonstrate

THE REIGN OF LAW 227

a need for better, prompter, less irksome, and expensive
administration of the laws. They point the necessity for
simplification and codification of laws; for uniformity of
procedure; for more accurate delimitation of State and
Federal authority.

All these problems constantly come in the work of polit-
ical and social development. But they stand for a vast
progression toward better conditions, a better society, a
better economic system. In approaching them, we need to
have in mind the Federalist's analysis of our constitutional
system: — The powers delegated to the Federal Government
are few and defined; those to remain in the hands of the
State government are numerous and indefinite.

That statement can not be too much emphasized. The
country's growth has compelled the Federal establishment
to exceed by far the Government plants of even the greatest
States. With this growth in physical extent, in revenue,
in personnel, there has inevitably been the suggestion that
the Federal Government was overshadowing the States.
Yet the State governments deal with far more various and
more intimate concerns of the people than does the Na-
tional Government. All the operations of the minor civil
divisions, parishes, wards, school districts, towns, cities,
counties, and the like, are dependencies of the State. The
maintenance of order through police, the general business
of enforcing law, is left to the States. So is education.
Property is held and transferred on terms fixed by the
States. In short, the structure of social and business rela-
tionship is built chiefly about the laws of the States. It
depends upon the exercise by the States of that vastly
greater share of Government power which resides in them,
to the exclusion cf the Federal Government. In ordinary
times nearly the entire burden of taxation represents State
and local demands. Even now, despite the enormous in-
crease of Federal taxes from pre-war years, State and local

228 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

taxes far exceed the Federal requirements. Moreover, the
national burden is being continually reduced, while that of
the local units is growing and likely to continue to grow.

Such is the real distribution of duties, responsibilities, and
expenses. Yet people are given to thinking and speaking
of the National Government as "the Government." They
demand more from it than it was ever intended to provide;
and yet in the same breath they complain that Federal
authority is stretching itself over areas which do not concern
it. On one side, there are demands for more amendments
to the Constitution. On the other, there is too much op-
position to those that already exist.

Without doubt, the reason for increasing demands on
the Federal Government is that the States have not dis-
charged their full duties. Some have done better and
some worse, but as a whole they have not done all they
should. So demand has grown up for a greater concentra-
tion of powers in the Federal Government. If we will
fairly consider it, we must conclude that the remedy would
be worse than the disease. What we need is not more Fed-
eral government but better local government. Yet many
people who would agree to this have large responsibility
for the lapses of local authority.

From every position of consistency with our system, more
centralization ought to be avoided. The States would pro-
test, promptly enough, anything savoring of Federal usur-
pation. Their protection will lie in discharging the full
obligations that have been imposed on them. Once the
evasion of local responsibilities becomes a habit, there is no
knowing how far the consequences may reach. Every step
in such a progression will be unfortunate alike for States
and Nation. The country needs, in grappling with the
manifold problems of these times, all the courage, intelli-
gence, training, and skill that can be enlisted in both State
and national administrations.

—

THE REIGN OF LAW 229

One insidious practice which sugar-coats the dose of
Federal intrusion is the division of expense for public
improvements or services between State and National
treasuries. The ardent States-rights advocate sees in this
practice a vicious weakening of the State system. The
extreme federalist is apt to look upon it in cynical fashion
as bribing the States into subordination. The average
American, believing in our dual-sovereignty system, must
feel that the policy of national doles to the States is bad
and may become disastrous. We may go on yet for a time
with the easy assumption that "if the States will not, the
Nation must." But that way lies trouble. When the Na-
tional Treasury contributes half, there is temptation to ex-
travagance by the State. We have seen some examples in
connection with the Federal contributions to road build-
ing. Yet there are constant demands for more Federal
contributions. Whenever by that plan we take something
from one group of States and give it to another group,
there is grave danger that we do an economic injustice on
one side and a political injury on the other. We impose
unfairly on the strength of the strong, and we encourage
the weak to indulge their weakness.

When the local government unit evades its responsibility
in one direction, it is started in the vicious way of disre-
gard of law and laxity of living. The police force which is
administered on the assumption that the violation of some
laws may be ignored has started toward demoralization.
The community which approves such administration is
making dangerous concessions. There is no use disguising
the fact that as a nation our attitude toward the prevention
and punishment of crime needs more serious attention. I
read the other day a survey which showed that in propor-
tion to population we have eight times as many murders
as Great Britain, and five times as many as France. Mur-
der rarely goes unpunished in Britain or France; here the

230 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

reverse is true. The same survey reports many times as
many burglaries in parts of America as in all England ; and,
whereas a very high per cent of burglars in England are
caught and punished, in parts of our country only a very
low per cent are finally punished. The comparison can not
fail to be disturbing. The conclusion is inescapable that
laxity of administration reacts upon public opinion, caus-
ing cynicism and loss of confidence in both law and its
enforcement and therefore in its observance. The failure
of local government has a demoralizing effect in every
direction.

These are vital issues, in which the Nation greatly needs
a revival of interest and concern. It is senseless to boast
of our liberty when we find that to so shocking an extent
it is merely the liberty to go ill-governed. It is time to
take warning that neither the liberties we prize nor the
system under which we claim them are safe while such
conditions exist.

We shall not correct admitted and grave defects if we
hesitate to recognize them. We must be frank with our-
selves. We ought to be our own harshest critics. We can
afford to be, for in spite of everything we still have a bal-
ance of prosperity, of general welfare, of secure freedom,
and of righteous purpose, that gives us assurance of lead-
ership among the nations.

What America needs is to hold to its ancient and well-
charted course.

Our country was conceived in the theory of local self-
government. It has been dedicated by long practice to
that wise and beneficent policy. It is the foundation
principle of our system of liberty. It makes the largest
promise to the freedom and development of the individual.
Its preservation is worth all the effort and all the sacrifice
that it may cost.

It can not be denied that the present tendency is not in

THE REIGN OF LAW 231

harmony with this spirit. The individual, instead of work-
ing out his own salvation and securing his own freedom
by establishing his own economic and moral independence
by his own industry and his own self-mastery, tends to
throw himself on some vague influence which he denomi-
nates society and to hold that in some way responsible
for the sufficiency of his support and the morality of his
actions. The local political units likewise look to the States,
the States look to the Nation, and nations are beginning
to look to some vague organization, some nebulous con-
course of humanity, to pay their bills and tell them what
to do. This is not local self-government. It is not Ameri-
can. It is not the method which has made this country
what it is. We can not maintain the western standard of
civilization on that theory. If it is supported at all, it
will have to be supported on the principle of individual
responsibility. If that principle be maintained, the result
which I believe America wishes to see produced inevitably
will follow.

There is no other foundation on which freedom has ever
found a permanent abiding place. We shall have to make
our decision whether we wish to maintain our present in-
stitutions, or whether we wish to exchange them for some-
thing else. If we permit some one to come to support us,
we can not prevent some one coming to govern us. If we
are too weak to take charge of our own mortality, we
shall not be strong enough to take charge of our own liberty.
If we can not govern ourselves, if we can not observe the
law, nothing remains but to have some one else govern us, to
have the law enforced against us, and to step down from
the honorable abiding place of freedom to the ignominious
abode of servitude.

If these principles are sound, two conclusions follow.
The individual and the local, state, and national political
units ought to be permitted to assume their own responsi-

232 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

bilities. Any other course in the end will be subversive both
of character and liberty. But it is equally clear that they
in their turn must meet their obligations. If there is to be
a continuation of individual and local self-government and
of State sovereignty, the individual and locality must gov-
ern themselves and the State must assert its sovereignty.
Otherwise these rights and privileges will be confiscated
under the all-compelling pressure of public necessity for a
better maintenance of order and morality. The whole world
has reached a stage in which, if we do not set ourselves
right, we may be perfectly sure that an authority will be
asserted by others for the purpose of setting us right.

But before we attempt to set ourselves up as exponents
of universal reform, it would be wise to remember that
progress is of slow growth, and also to remember that mod-
eration, patience, forbearance, and charity are virtues in
their own right. The only action which can be effective in
the long run is that which helps others to help themselves.
Before we assume too great responsibilities in the govern-
ing of others, it would be the part of wisdom very completely
to discharge our responsibilities for governing ourselves. A
large amount of work has to be done at home before we
can start in on the neighbors, and very considerable duties
have to be performed in America before we undertake the
direction of the rest of the world. But we must at all times
do the best we can for ourselves without forgetting others,
and the best we can for our own country without forgetting
other nations.

Ours is a new land. It has had an almost unbelievable
task to perform, and has performed it well. We have been
called to fit the institutions of ancient civilization to the
conditions of a new country. In that task the leaders of
the Nation have been supported by a deep devotion to the
essentials of freedom. At the bottom of the national char-
acter has been a strain of religious earnestness and moral

^ MM MMitfYS

THE REIGN OF LAW 233

determination which has never failed to give color and
quality to our institutions. Because our history shows us
these things, we dare make honest appraisal of our short-
comings. We have not failed. We have succeeded. Be-
cause we have been privileged to rely upon generations
of men and women ready to serve and to sacrifice, we
have magnificently succeeded.

Our gathering here to-day is in testimony of supreme
obligation to those who have given most to make and pre-
serve the Nation. They established it upon the dual sys-
tem of State government and Federal Government, each
supreme in its own sphere. But they left to the States
the main powers and functions of determining the form
and course of society. We have demonstrated in the time
of war that under the Constitution we possess an inde-
structible Union. We must not fail to demonstrate in the
time of peace that we are likewise determined to possess
and maintain indestructible States. This policy can be
greatly advanced by individual observance of the law.
It can be strongly supplemented by a vigorous enforce-
ment of the law. The war which established Memorial Day
had for its main purpose the enforcement of the Consti-
tution. The peace which followed that war rests upon the
universal observance of the Constitution. This Union can
only be preserved, the States can only be maintained, under
a reign of national, local, and moral law, under the Con-
stitution established by Washington, under the peace pro-
vided by Lincoln.

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XXIV J

n

We should not forget that, in the world over, 1

the general attitude and one of the strongest

attributes of all peoples is a desire to do right.

Unless we lay our course in accordance with this

principle, the great power for good in the world

with which we have been intrusted by a Divine

Providence will be turned to a power for evil. *

9

THE NAVY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE

The poet reminds us that "Knowledge comes, but wis-
dom lingers." It may not be difficult to store up in the
mind a vast quantity of facts within a comparatively short
time, but the ability to form correct judgments requires the
severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of
experience and maturity. By your previous preparation
and by your four years' course at this institution, your
diploma will testify that you are possessed of knowledge.
Your future life will reveal your attainments in wisdom.
I have come here to express the faith that your country
holds in your abiding worth and in your ability to succeed.

You have chosen a profession which represents one of
the great military arms of our Government. You will be a
constant testimony throughout your lives that America
believes in military preparation for national defense, for
the protection of the rights, the security, and peace of her
citizens. You will be called to places of responsibility and
command. You will be given the power of life and death
over fellow countrymen. You will represent the power, the
glory, and the honor of this Nation among foreign peoples,
with all the prominence that arises from wearing the uni-
form and carrying the flag. What you are the American
sailor will be, and what you represent the American Navy
will represent in the ports of our own country and in those
of foreign peoples where little will be known of the nature
of authority under liberty, save what is learned from you.
You have been chosen for this high calling.

Before the Graduating Class, U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.,
June 3, 1925.

237

238 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

But while you will serve the Nation in this special field of
endeavor, you will not forget that the real profession of
every American is citizenship. Under our institutions each
individual is born to sovereignty. Whatever he may adopt
as a means of livelihood, his real business is serving his
country. He can not hold himself above his fellow men.
The greatest place of command is really the place of obedi-
ence, and the greatest place of honor is really the place of
service. It is your duty in the part you propose to take
to make the largest contribution you can to the general citi-
zenship of your country.

Not long ago I heard a Navy chaplain refer to the sage
advice of the Apostle to put first things first. It was my
understanding that this meant putting proper emphasis
on what is essential in life and disregarding so far as pos-
sible that which is accidental. The great body of American
people will, I hope, always be devoted to civilian life. Their
main purpose has been and will be the maintenance of
an honorable peace. It may not have occurred to some
of you, but I feel warranted in asserting it to be true that
your success lies in giving a very large support to the
civilian life of the Nation and to the promotion of the
public peace. If I were not convinced that this is true, I
shoukl question the usefulness of the National Navy.

If we are to heed the admonition to put first things first,
a very little deliberation would reveal to us that one of
the main essentials which lies at the very beginnings of
civilization is that of security. It is only when people can
feel that their lives and the property which their industry
has produced to-day will continue to be safe on the morrow
that there can be that stability of value and that economic
progress on which human development has always rested.
We do not know of any people in history where this has
not been first provided through some form of monarchy
supported by a sufficient military force. This condition of

^^^^MHHMMIU^

THE NAVY 239

security has long been proverbially characterized among
English-speaking people as 'The King's peace." All viola-
tions of that security were crimes against the Crown, as in
our Republic they are crimes against the State or the
Nation.

It is only when such peace and security have been
achieved under well-established customs and the orderly
process of the law that there is any opportunity for the
advancement of liberty. When a people have begun to re-
spect the rights of each other and maintain common stand-
ards of action, they have advanced to a position where they
do not constantly require the all-protecting power of force
and can begin to take over the making of their own laws
and the determination of their own government. Finding
that they are secure in the posession of life and property,
they can begin the establishment of their liberty. Gradu-
ally this policy develops until the last vestige of monarchy
disappears and the people become entirely free and self-
governing.

There is no need for me to enlarge in this presence upon
the privileges which come to the individual in the develop-
ment of a free people. They are the common experiences
of our daily life and the precious heritage of all Americans.
Freedom in religion and in expression, popular education,
increasing production and more equitable distribution, a
larger independence of the mind and of the body, the
works of charity and humanity, a broader culture, all
mark a material and spiritual advance which follows
in the progress of this development. In all this prog-
ress and all this advance it has never been possible to
maintain that first essential of security without a back-
ground of military force. It is that background, that sup-
port, that service which your profession helps to provide,
that is your contribution, one of the first things, one of
the essentials to the civilian life of our country. You may

240 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

not be actually employed in production, but you are help-
ing to increase the value of production and maintain the
public peace without which there could be no production.

It is my firm conviction that the duty of national de-
fense, like the general duty of citizenship, should be broadly
extended and borne by all our people. We do not believe
in or wish to bear the expense of maintaining large standing
military forces. The very genius of a republic would be
threatened by that policy. Freedom, independence, self-
government are all opposed to anything that assembles a
mercenary force. But while military science has advanced
to such a degree that it is necessary constantly to maintain
a considerable body of trained experts in that profession,
the true spirit of American institutions requires that each
citizen should be potentially a soldier, ready to take his
place in the ranks in time of peril, either in the field or in
the necessary productive activity. Not all of our people
can pursue a long course of study so as to become trained
military experts any more than they can give up the
time to become trained physicians, jurists, diplomats, or
statesmen. Our military forces on land and sea represent
the necessary accomplishment in that profession the same
as other professions are represented in civilian life. It is
exactly because we wish to keep our standing forces small
that the average citizen must give some attention to mili-
tary affairs, precisely as he gives some attention to other
Government affairs, in order that he may express a delib-
erate and informed judgment at the ballot box.

These are some of the principles that your Government
had in mind in giving you a training in the science of naval
warfare and reposing in you the public duty of maintaining
the learning of that profession for the purposes of national
defense. It is for this object that our country remains
armed. Though ultimately I believe peace will prevail, I
have too much knowledge of the history of mankind and

THE NAVY 241

too much experience with the traits of human nature to
dare to assert that we shall never again be engaged in
war. It is known of all the world that we have no present
or traditional enmities, that we covet no territory, harbor
no imperialistic designs, and are not arming ourselves with
the expectation of attacking or being attacked. The power
of our arms is not only consistent with, but ought to be re-
garded as an additional guaranty of, the peace of the world.
And so far as we can look into the future, so far as we can
gauge the power and temper of other peoples, there never
was a time when it was less likely that any other nation
or combination of nations would or could make any attack
on us. Both by necessity and by choice the whole world is
against war. It has given incomparable hostages to peace.
Our own country is disarmed, has adopted the policy of
limitation of naval armaments, has voluntarily imposed re-
strictions upon the traffic in arms, and is taking part in ne-
gotiations to secure an agreement to extend such restric-
tion among other nations. The policy of peace through
reason rather than peace through force is one in which
America has taken and ought always to continue to take
a leading part.

As I have already tried to make clear, I regard our Navy
as a great instrument of peace. As such it can not fail to
secure adequate support from the Public Treasury and
command the confidence and admiration of the American
people. Whatever aid can be given by voluntary associa-
tions in advancing the welfare of the Navy and keeping
the public informed of its true aims and purposes and its
necessary needs is entirely welcome and thoroughly to be
commended. The officers of the Navy are given the fullest
latitude in expressing their views before their fellow citi-
zens, subject, of course, to the requirements of not betraying
those confidential affairs which would be detrimental to the
service. It seems to me perfectly proper for anyone upon

242 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

any suitable occasion to advocate the maintenance of a
Navy in keeping with the greatness and dignity of our
country. But as one who is responsible not only for our
national defense, but likewise our friendly relations with
other peoples and our title to the good opinion of the
world, I feel that the occasion will very seldom arise, and
I know it does not now exist, when those connected with
our Navy are justified, either directly or by inference, in
asserting that other specified powers are arming against us,
and by arousing national suspicion and hatred attempting
to cause us to arm against them.

The suggestion that any other people are harboring a
hostile intent toward us is a very serious charge to make.
We would not relish having our honorable motives and
peaceful intentions questioned; others can not relish hav-
ing any of us question theirs. We should not forget that
in the world over the general attitude and one of the strong-
est attributes of all peoples is a desire to do right. Unless
we lay our course in accordance with this principle, the
great power for good in the world with which we have been
intrusted by a Divine Providence will be turned to a
power for evil. We shall make no progress and be of no
benefit to ourselves or to anyone else.

In a recent address made by Ambassador Houghton, who
represents us at the Court of St. James, he gave utterance
to a great truth most admirably expressed when he said that
"Peace is an adventure in faith." That was a thought most
appropriate to these times. The chief reliance of the world
is faith. We can not maintain any of our necessary rela-
tions without it. It is one of those first things which must
be put first. It is one of the main elements of the Navy.
How far could you proceed in organization or discipline, or
what would be the result in battle, if the officers and men did
not cherish an almost absolute faith in each other? Such
a sentiment of course will be justified only by the knowl-

M

THE NAVY 243

edge that there exists in each of us qualities which are
worthy of our trust and confidence. I want the Navy when
it attempts to deal with our own people, or with the other
peoples of the earth, to remember that the dominant traits
of mankind are truth and justice and righteousness, and
that the appeal to reason must ultimately prevail. I am
not arguing that there is no evil in the world. We are
painfully aware that it is altogether too prevalent. But
we shall make no progress unless we do more than under-
take to recompense evil with evil. We must make our
appeal to the greater realities. We must put the emphasis
not upon the false, but upon the true, not upon corrup-
tion and treachery, but upon purity and honor. Local and
national faith must be extended to international faith.

It is in accordance with these principles which are so
clearly sound that we base our belief in the ability of na-
tions to compose their differences by negotiation, by arbi-
tration and by the judgments of duly constituted courts.
It is under this conception that we try to disarm and
mutually agree to place limits on the extent of military
preparation. Man is a reasonable being and finally reason
must assert itself. We must make our choice between hold-
ing to this theory or holding that our only reliance must
be placed on armed force. Carried to its logical conclusion,
that means more and more armaments, more and more
hatreds and suspicions, a return to the old plan of direct
competition in military preparation with the certainty that
as soon as the world can arm and prepare itself after one
war it will be plunged into another.

I am not unfamiliar with the claim that if only we had a
sufficient Military Establishment no one would ever molest
us. I know of no nation in history that has ever been able
to attain that position. I see no reason to expect that we
could be the exception. Although I believe thoroughly in
adequate military preparations, what I am trying to argue

244 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

is that they are not sufficient unto themselves. I do not
believe the American Navy can succeed if it represents
mere naked force. I want to see it represent much more
than that. We must place it on a much higher plane. We
must make it an instrument of righteousness. If we are
to promote peace on earth, we must have a great deal more
than the power of the sword. We must call into action
the spiritual and moral forces of mankind.

The world moves forward under a reign of law. Our own
great Admiral Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay, being ap-
proached one time with the suggestion that he become a
candidate for office, was asked what platform he would
adopt. He replied, "The Constitution and the flag." By
that he meant law and loyalty. You will stand peculiarily
as the guardians of that great instrument, as supporters of
that great symbol. You will always remember the provi-
sion of the sixth article, which declares that "This Consti-
tution and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which
shall be made, under the authority of the United States,
shall be the supreme law of the land." Acting in accord-
ance with this supreme law of the land, through their duly
constituted Government, your fellow citizens are commit-
ting into your keeping the solemn and sacred duty of guard-
ing and preserving the integrity of the law of the land and
of defending and increasing the honor and glory of the na-
tional colors. When the commendations of your fellow
countrymen shall come to you, when you shall have won
world-wide fame by the faithful discharge of your duty in
the service of your country, when in your declining years
you shall seek for the last best refuge of human freedom,
may your life experience inevitably and unhesitatingly turn
your thoughts to the Constitution and the flag.

XXV I

1

// one were seeking proof of a basic brotherhood
among all races of men, if one were to challenge i

the riddle of Babel in support of aspirations for
a unity capable of assuring peace to the nations,
in such an inquiry I suppose no better testimony
could be talen than the experience of this coun-
try. Out of the confusion of tongues, the con-
flict of traditions, the variations of historical
setting, the vast differences in talents and tastes
there has been evolved a spiritual union accom-
panied by a range of capacity and genius which
marks this Nation for a preeminent destiny.

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CONTRIBUTION OF THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA

How often in the affairs of this world a small and appar-
ently insignificant occurrence turns out to be an event
of great importance, carrying in its train a mighty in-
fluence for good or evil. Such importance always flows
from the character of those concerned. The generations
of the earth treasure the rude hut that sheltered the in-
fancy of Abraham Lincoln, seek out the birthplace of
Shakespeare, and give to the uninviting soil of Palestine
the title of the Holy Land, all because certain obscure hap-
penings in those places produced those who left a broad J
mark upon the future course of humanity. The character -
of the participants brought future fame. It is such an event n
that we meet to commemorate to-day. One hundred years
ago a little bark sailed from Norway to America, It was al- m
most unnoticed at the time, save for the daring and hardi-
hood of its navigators; but it brought with it the repre- j
sentatives of a stalwart race, men and women of fixed
determination, enduring courage and high character, who
were to draw in their retinue a long line of their fellow
countrymen destined to change the face of an area broad
as an empire, direct the historic course of sovereign States,
and contribute to the salvation of a great nation. These
mighty works have been wrought because those Norwegian
immigrants were well worthy to follow in the wake of the
Pilgrim and Cavalier.

This celebration is most happily identified with the pres-
ent year, which is an anniversary of notable events in the

Before the Norwegian Centennial Celebration, at Minnesota State Fair
Grounds, June 8, 1925.

247

248 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

history of our country. We are rounding out a century
and a half from the beginning of the American Revolution.
It was a half a century from the days of Concord and
Lexington to the beginning of that stream of immigration
from Norway which was to help guarantee that the spirit
of freedom which had been so triumphant in the Colonies
should not be lost to the States.

When we consider the astonishing number of immigrants
which the Scandinavian countries have contributed in pro-
portion to their own population to making the body of
American citizenship, we will appreciate the significance
of this anniversary. It well deserves the consideration it
is receiving here in this State which has so richly profited
by a larger proportion of this north-of-Europe immigra-
tion than any other Commonwealth. Minnesota would
not be Minnesota, the group of imperial northwestern
States would not be what they are, but for the contribution
that has been made to them by the Scandinavian countries.

Because of a profound appreciation of that contribution
and of its truly national value I have found it an especial
pleasure to come here and join in this commemoration.
In the midst of loyalties that are all beyond possibility of
question, it may be difficult to choose among the many
national and racial groups that have sought out America
for their home and their country. We are thankful for
all of them, and yet more thankful that the experiment
of their common citizenship has been so magnificently jus-
tified in its results. If one were seeking proof of a basic
brotherhood among all races of men, if one were to chal-
lenge the riddle of Babel in support of aspirations for a
unity capable of assuring peace to the nations, in such an
inquiry I suppose no better testimony could be taken than
the experience of this country. Out of the confusion of
tongues, the conflict of traditions, the variations of histori-
cal setting, the vast differences in talents and tastes there

t -,m "■£■» "V ~w

t*xrw

NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 249

has been evolved a spiritual union accompanied by a range
of capacity and genius which marks this Nation for a
preeminent destiny. The American people have com-
manded the respect of the world.

It is a good thing that anniversaries such as this are so
widely commemorated. The next few years will be filled
with a continuing succession of similar occasions. I wish
that every one of them might be so impressively celebrated
that all Americans would be moved to study the history
which each one represents. I can think of no effort that
would produce so much inspiration to high and intelligent
patriotism. Occasions of this nature bring to our attention
whole regions of the past that would otherwise remain un-
explored, tend to be forgotten even by scholars, and pass
entirely from the public mind. These incentives to special
examination of particular historical phases teach us better
to understand our country and our countrymen. Anyone
who will study the institutions and people of America will
come more and more to admire them.

One reason that moved me to accept the cordial invita-
tions to come here to-day was the hope of directing some
measure of national attention to the absorbingly interesting
subject of the social backgrounds of our country. The mak-
ing of such a country is not to be told in any mere category
of dates, battles, political evolutions, and partisan con-
troversies. Back of all these, which are too often the chief
material of history, lies the human story of the unsung
millions of plain people whose names are strangers to public
place and fame. Their lives have been replete with quiet,
unpretentious, modest but none the less heroic virtues.
From these has been composed the sum of that magnificent
and wondrous adventure, the making of our own America.
Somewhere in the epic of struggle to subjugate a continent
there will be found a philosophy of human relations that
the world will greatly prize. If we could seize and fix it,

250 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

if we could turn it over, examine and understand it, we
would have taken a long step toward solving some of the
hardest problems of mankind.

It is not so many years since visitors from other quarters
of the world were wont to contemplate our concourse of
races, origins, and interests, and shake their heads omi-
nously. They feared that from such a melting pot of
diverse elements we could never draw the tested, tempered
metal that is the only substance for national character.
Even among ourselves were many who listened with serious
concern to such forebodings. They were not quite sure
whether we had created a nation with the soul of a nation.
They wondered if perhaps we had merely brought together
a large number of people in a large place. Had these mis-
givings been justified when the hour of trial came, it would
have meant disaster to us and to the world. But instead of
crumbling into a chaos of discordant elements, America
proved its truly national unity. It demonstrated con-
clusively that there is a spiritual quality shared by all races
and conditions of men which is their universal heritage
and common nature. Powerful enough to hold this people
to a high ideal in time of supreme trial, why may we not
hope that the same influence will at length reach men and
women wherever they are found on earth? If fraternity
and cooperation are possible on the scale of this continent
among people so widely diverse, why not on the scale of
a world? It is not a new thought, but it is a profoundly
engaging one. I firmly believe it is more than a chimera.
I feel it is possible of realization. I am convinced that our
national story might somewhat help to guide mankind
toward such a goal. Therefore, I urge the deeply thought-
ful study and teaching of our history.

No country has a history which starts with its discovery
or at its boundaries. For the real beginnings of any people
we must go back to the beginnings of all peoples. From

I

NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 251

the tombs of Egypt and the sands of Mesopotamia men
are now unearthing the records of civilizations so ancient
that by comparison we think of the recovered wonders of
Carthage as almost modern. But all that we shall learn
from the glyphs of Ur, the tombs of the Pharaohs, and the
monuments of Crete and Carthage is part of our own his-
tory, illumination for our to-days, guideposts on the way
to our to-morrows. All the past lives in the present. All j

the works and thoughts of those who have gone before
have left their mark on what we think and do.

These Norsemen whose beginnings in the United States
we here celebrate have exercised a great influence upon I

our modern history and western civilization which it is
difficult to match among any other like number of people.
In many ways their influence upon northern and western
Europe may be compared to that of the Greek states upon
the civilization of the Mediterranean. They were the first
deep-sea navigators. They pioneered the migrations which
boldly struck across the western waters. They were at once
the terrors of the Western Roman Empire and the guardians
of the Eastern. The medieval Mediterranean was a happy
hunting ground for them. They branded their name upon
French Normandy, and from it descended upon Britain in
the Norman conquest from which there was the beginning
of modern English history.

But even before William of Normandy had conquered
at Hastings, Lief the son of Erik, nearly 500 years before
Columbus, appears to have found the New World. Indeed,
there seems little doubt that several centuries before
Columbus saw the light of day there was born upon Ameri-
can soil, of Norse parents, a boy who afterward became
so great a mathematician and astronomer that his studies
may have contributed much to the fund of knowledge
which helped Columbus formulate his vision of the world
as we know it. Among the fascinating chapters in the

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252 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

history of the dark ages is the story of Iceland. As a little
Norse Republic it maintained itself for several centuries as
one of the real repositories of ancient culture in a world
whose lamp of learning seemed near to flickering out. We
have long known of the noble Icelandic literature which
was produced during those generations of the intellectual
twilight ; but we know too little of the part which Iceland
performed as an outpost of the sturdy northern culture
in bridging over the gulf of darkness between the ancient
and modern eras of history.

These sons of Thor and Odin and the great free North
shape themselves in the mind's eye as very princes of high
and hardy adventure. From Norway to Iceland, from Ice-
land to Greenland, from Greenland to the mainland, step
by step they worked their way across the north Atlantic.
They found the western ocean, and it was a Norseman who
first traversed Bering Strait and demonstrated that there
was no land connection between Asia and North America.
One wonders whither these Northmen would turn for ad-
venture if the earth should ever be so completely charted
that exploration offered no more challenges. Within a very
few years one of them first traversed the northwest passage
from Atlantic to Pacific; and the same one, Amundsen,
carried the flag of Norway to the South Pole; and now,
within a few days past, he has been the first to make large
explorations in the region of the North Pole in an airplane,
tempting a fate which, as I write, is unknown.

One likes to linger over these tales of adventure and ex-
ploration. One of them has a special significance in con-
nection with this celebration which entitles it to more par-
ticular reference. This, of course, is the voyage of the little
sloop Restaur ationen, which in 1825 brought the first or-
ganized party of Norwegian immigrants to this country.
One reared on the New England tradition of the Mayflower
will find all the materials for a new legend of pioneering in

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NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 253

the voyage of the Restaurationen. She was a sloop of 45
tons, whereas the Mayflower was rated as 180 tons. The
Restaurationen sailed from Stavanger, Norway, on July 4,
1825, with a desperately heavy cargo of iron and a party
of fifty-two people. She came safely into the port of New
York after a voyage of fourteen weeks, which compares
with nine weeks required for the historic passage of the
Mayflower.

The arrival of the Restaurationen created a sensation
among those inured to the sea. It was claimed that she was
the smallest vessel that had ever made the trans-Atlantic
crossing. The New York authorities threatened to deny her
the privileges of the port on the ground that she carried
too many passengers and too much cargo. She was ulti-
mately released, apparently through the influence of the
Society of Friends. Most of her passengers seemed to have *

been members of a Norwegian religious community inti- J

mately related to the Quakers, and it appears that one of •

their reasons for coming to this country was that they had
not enjoyed entire liberty of religious opinion at home.
Thus the parallel between the voyages of the Mayflower
and of the Restaurationen, despite that they were separated I

by more than 200 years, is impressive in several ways.

Almost without money or supplies, the little company of
immigrants were taken in charge by the New York Quakers
who raised funds to send them to Kendall, Orleans County,
N. Y. There they secured lands and established the first
Norwegian settlement in this country. It is a curious cir-
cumstance that although the Norwegians are among the
greatest seafaring peoples, this party was composed almost
entirely of farmers, so that their first interest was to get
land. And ever since, the greater share of Norwegians have
come in search of homes on the land. These first immi-
grants having practically no money, bought a tract on the
shore of Lake Ontario for $5 per acre to be paid for in ten

254 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

annual instalments. It is hard to realize that western
New York so late as 1825 was so far on the frontier. Their
land was heavily timbered, and they were compelled not
only to clear it but to build their own shelter. The first
house is said to have been a log cabin twelve feet square,
with a garret. In this twenty-one of them lived for a time,
the men seeking such scanty employment as was to be found
in the neighborhood to support them through the winter.
The only one in the party who could speak English was
Capt. Lars Olson and he had remained in New York.

Despite poverty and hardships, the colony thrived, and
its members were shortly writing letters back to Norway
describing the opportunities of America and urging friends
to come. From this beginning the stream of Norwegian
immigration set in, but most of the later comers went much
farther west. A few years after the settlement at Kendall
another party went to La Salle County, 111. Already the
west was fascinating them and many of the original Kendall
colony sold out and went on to Illinois. Thence the migra-
tion spread to other States of the middle west and north-
west. Even before it was formed into a Territory, Iowa had
received its first Norwegians, and from about 1835 they
spread rapidly into Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas,
and other States.

It is not possible, as it is certainly not needful on this
occasion, even to summarize the story of Norwegian immi-
gration. But it should be explained that while the settle-
ment of 1825 in Orleans County, N. Y., was the first
Norwegian settlement and represented the first organized
immigration, these pioneers of the Restaurationen were not
the first Norwegians to come here. Considerable numbers
had come even before the Revolutionary War and some as
far back as the earliest colonial years. There were Nor-
wegians in both Army and Navy during the Revolution
and the War of 1812. But the fact remains that the great

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NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 255

movement which established Norwegian communities all
over the northwest and contributed so greatly to the build-
ing of that part of the country began with the voyage of
the Restaurationen. It is said that Norwegians and their
descendants in this country are now just about as numerous
as the population of Norway itself. Norway is credited
with furnishing a larger number of settlers to the United
States in proportion to its population than any other Euro-
pean country except one.

It is frequently noted regarding immigration that the
newcomers from Europe commonly sought climatic condi-
tions here like those in which they had been raised. So the
Scandinavians are found chiefly in the northern parts of this
country. About eighty per cent of the population of Norway
is agricultural, the remainder maritime and industrial. %

These proportions are closely carried out in the occupational J

distribution here. A great majority sought the land, but j

considerable numbers have always followed the sea. Some q

of the coincidences in connection with this migration are
oddly interesting. Thus we have noted that the little sloop
Restaurationen brought a cargo of iron; to-day Minnesota
has more Norwegians and produces more iron ore than any *

other State. Again, Norway is a land of wonderful fresh-
water lakes, and it is closely matched by Minnesota.

There is one phase in the story of immigration which
seems always to characterize it. Once the tide had set in
from a particular European country, the movement there-
after has invariably been encouraged by the early comers.
Not only did they urge relatives and friends in the old
home to come, but they devoted their new-found prosperity
to help them. On this subject there is an opportunity for
some useful historical research. In the pre-Revolutionary
days immigration to America seems to have been encour-
aged from the other side, partly from political and partly
from business motives. The colonizing countries of Europe

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256 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

competed to control the best parts of the New World by-
occupying it with their colonies. Immigration was en-
couraged both by the Governments and by companies of
merchant adventurers. At that stage of the movement, of
course, the colonies possessed no wealth to help their friends
to come. But after the Revolution the situation greatly
changed. New political conditions made this country more
attractive than ever before, and developing wealth and
opportunity emphasized its invitation. So we find the peo-
ple of our Republic deliberately and consciously encourag-
ing the movement in this direction. There is opportunity
for a much more detailed examination of these factors in
the European migration than has yet been undertaken.
It would be a profoundly interesting contribution to the
story of this greatest of all migrations that humanity has
ever accomplished if we could know more of the precise
motives which have animated it.

The contribution of this country to financing immigration
of the last century and a third has certainly run into hun-
dreds of millions of dollars, perhaps into billions. It has
had a profound social influence, both here and in Europe.
Its economic consequences could hardly be overestimated.
A detailed inquiry into these facts should include a close
consideration of all the great migrations which have marked
the distribution of men throughout the world. Man seems
to have been from his beginnings the most migratory of
animals. His earlier movements appear to have had their
chief motive in adventure and the desire to find the regions
where existence was most comfortable. There could hardly
have been a very serious pressure of population, for it is
only in recent historic times that this factor has existed.
Some very early migrations were doubtless due to climatic
or other physical conditions. Later on political, social, re-
ligious, and economic reasons caused the movements. Some
went forth to make conquests, others were driven out by

NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 257

conquest. The children of Israel migrated into Egypt to
escape from famine. They left Egypt to escape from bond-
age and to recover their religious liberty. The old Romans
and Phoenicians were great colonizers, the Romans from
imperialistic motives and the Phoenicians from desire to
extend their trade. The European migration to the Ameri-
can Continent represented in its various phases all the
causes that have operated through the ages to bring about
such shifts of population. In the beginning there was
chiefly the motive of exploration and adventure. Later
came the desire to be freed from onerous clerical or political
restrictions. Then, with the realization of America's enor-
mous resources, there was the wish to share in its developing
riches. Only in the later stages of the movement did the
people of this country reach their hand of welcome to the
friends across the Atlantic, both urging and assisting them J

to come. I

Though I make no pretense to deep studies in the subject, n

yet I have been impressed that in this last regard the shift
of Old-World peoples to this side of the Atlantic was per-
haps unique. From the time when their fast-developing
institutions of popular government, religious freedom, and *

intellectual liberality had begun to take definite and attrac-
tive forms, the people of the Colonies took a new interest
in inducing their European relatives to follow them thither.
They engaged in an inverted crusade, a conquest without
invasion and without force. The new country offered not
only material opportunities, but possibilities of a spiritual
and intellectual emancipation which they ardently wished
their friends on the other side to share. Citizenship in
the New World meant something that it had not meant in
the Old. It was seen that the New World offered something
new. There was increasing realization that many burden-
some traditions and institutions had somehow been shed.
Here at last the individual was lord of himself, master of

258 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

his own destiny, keeper of his own sovereignty, Here he
was free.

With the eighteenth century's epoch of intellectual liber-
alism there came yet more sharp realization that the new
country was not bound to ancient manners and prejudices,
and that therefore it offered to the common man a better
chance. Here he might realize that ideal of equality which
by this time was so generally finding a lodgment in Euro-
pean minds. This spiritual evolution moved rather slowly
during the first two-thirds of the eighteenth century. The
Seven Years' War, or as we commonly call it, the French
and Indian War, was for the Colonies a period of rapid
awakening and realization. They began to find themselves,
to formulate more definite aspirations for their future. But
it does not appear that this new conception of American
destiny began in any important way to be shared in Europe
until the Revolution, independence and the establishment
of the Federal Government forced it upon the old countries.
Then a new idea began to fix itself in the European mind.
The new country was seen as an essentially, vitally, basically
different conception of human relationships. It appeared
not merely as a new country, but as a different kind of
country. It was considered not only different from Europe,
but different from any earlier social creations. The Euro-
pean peoples had been greatly stirred by the intellectual
awakening of the eighteenth century, and the liberals
among them had been deeply disappointed at the seeming
meager results which accrued from it. We may well wonder
what would have been the fate of Europe after 1815, if the
liberalism of both England and the Continent had settled
down to disappointment and cynicism. We can not doubt
that during this period, say from 1815 to 1848, the beacon
which they saw had been lighted over the western Atlantic
was a lamp to the feet and a hope to the hearts of liberals
throughout Europe.

db

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NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 259

Within this period immigration from the north and west
of Europe was not only rapidly building this country into
numbers, wealth, and authority in the world, but it was
having a tremendous reflex upon Europe itself. But for
American example and influence the democratic movements
of 1832 and 1848 in Europe might have been long post-
poned. The broadly democratic evolution which swayed
Europe so greatly in the latter half of the nineteenth cen-
tury might have failed entirely.

In the period we have been discussing nearly all the im- I

migration to the United States was from northern and
western Europe. Through its reactions upon Europe it
gave constant encouragement there to liberal thought and
action. In this country, by gradually giving the North a
great preponderance in numbers, it hastened the downfall '.

of slavery and helped rid our institutions of that great and «

threatening anomaly. i

These Northmen, one of whose anniversaries we are cele- *

brating to-day, have from their first appearance on the J

margin of history been the children of freedom. Native to
a rigorous climate and a none too productive soil, they had
learned the necessity for hard work and careful manage-
ment. They were moved by that aspiration for a free
holding in the land which has always marked peoples in
whom the democratic ideal was pressing for recognition.
Eager for both political and economic independence, they
realized the necessity for popular education, and so have
always been among the most devoted supporters of public
schools. Thousands of them volunteered in the service of
the country during the Civil and Spanish Wars, and tens
of thousands in the World War. The institutions and the
manners of democracy came naturally to them. Their
glory is all about you, their living and their mighty dead.
They have given great soldiers, statesmen, scientists, edu-
cators and men of business to the upbuilding of their

260 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

adopted country. They have been rapidly amalgamated
into the body of citizenship, contributing to it many of its
best and most characteristic elements. To their adapta-
bility the Nation owes much for its success in the enormous
process of assimilation and spiritual unification that has
made our Nation what it is and our people what they are.

Although this movement of people originated in Norway,
in its essence and its meaning it is peculiarly American.
It has nothing about it of class or caste. It has no tinge
of aristocracy. It was not produced through the leadership
of some great figure. It is represented almost entirely by
that stalwart strain who make the final decisions in this
world, which we designate the common people. It has about
it the strength of the home and the fireside; the family
ties of the father and the mother, the children and the
kindred. It has all been carried on very close to the soil,
it has all been extremely human. When I consider the
marvelous results it has accomplished I can not but believe
that it was inspired by a Higher Power. Here is something
vital, firm, and abiding, which I can only describe as a
great reality.

An enormous power has come to you, but you are charged
with equally enormous responsibilities. Those responsibili-
ties you have never failed to meet, that power you have
never failed to sanctify. Therein lies the sole title to all
the glory you have achieved in the past and therein will lie
the sole title to all the glory that you will achieve in the
future. Believing that there resides in an enlightened
people an all-compelling force for righteousness, I have
every faith that through the vigorous performance of your
duties you will add new luster to your glory in the days
to come.

Our America with all that it represents of hope in the
world is now and will be what you make it. Its institutions
of religious liberty, of educational and economic opportu-

NORSEMEN OF AMERICA 261

nity, of constitutional rights, of the integrity of the law,
are the most precious possessions of the human race. These
do not emanate from the Government. Their abiding place
is with the people. They come from the consecration of
the father, the love of the mother, and the devotion of the
children. They are the product of that honest, earnest,
and tireless effort that goes into the rearing of the family
altar and the making of the home of our country. They
can have no stronger supporters, no more loyal defenders,
than that great body of our citizenship which you repre-
sent. When I look upon you and realize what you are and
what you have done, I know that in your hands our country
is secure. You have laid up your treasure in what America
represents, and there will your heart be also. You have
given your pledge to the Land of the Free. The pledge of B

the Norwegian people has never yet gone unredeemed. H

I
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XXVI

The world has tried war with force and has
utterly failed. The only hope of success lies in
peace with justice. No other principle conforms
to the teaching of Washington; no other stand-
dard is worthy of the spirit of America; no other
course makes so much promise for the regenera-
tion of the world.

- • -

WASHINGTON

After 150 anniversaries repeatedly observed, followed
during the last three months by intensive celebration, in
this neighborhood where it had its beginnings, the Ameri-
can Revolution should be fairly well understood. If it
needs any justification, if it needs any praise, it is enough
to say that its product is America. It ought to be unneces-
sary on this occasion to dwell very much on that event and
its yet more remarkable results. But no great movement
in the progress of mankind has ever been accomplished
without the guidance of an inspired leadership. Of this
accepted truth, there is no more preeminent example than
that which was revealed by the war which made this coun-
try independent. Wherever men love liberty, wherever
they believe in patriotism, wherever they exalt high char-
acter, by universal consent they turn to the name of George
Washington. No occasion could be conceived more worthy,
more truly and comprehensively American, than that which
is chosen to commemorate this divinely appointed captain.
The contemplation of his life and work will forever
strengthen our faith in our country and in our country's
God.

Those men who have taken great parts in the world are
commonly ranked by posterity according to their accom-
plishments while living, and the permanent worth of the
monuments representing their achievements which remain
after they are gone. By this standard I think we may re-
gard George Washington as the first lay citizen of the

Address delivered at the celebration of the 150th anniversary of George
Washington taking command of the Continental Army, Cambridge, Mass.,
July 3, 1925, at 4. p.m.

265

266 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

world of all time. He was one in whom the elements of
greatness were so evenly blended, so accurately propor-
tioned, that his character has well-nigh defied analysis.
Others have created wider commotion and deeper impres-
sion in the hour of their eminence. But we shall hardly
find one who in his own day achieved so much as Washing-
ton and left his work so firmly established that posterity,
generation after generation, can only increase its tributes
to his ability, his wisdom, his patriotism, and his rounded
perfection in the character of a Christian citizen.

No figure in profane history has inspired so many testi-
monies of admiration. The highest eloquence, the most
profound sincerity, have been invoked to picture him as the
very sum of public capacities and civic virtues. No pride
of race or country has even attempted to set up rivals to
him. Envy and malice have stood rebuked in the presence
of his towering form. There is no language of literature
and culture which does not boast among its adornments
noble eulogies of the work and character of Washington.
Although, as history reckons its periods, it is but a little
time since he passed from the stage of life, he has been
claimed, wherever men struggle and aspire, as the posses-
sion of all humanity, the first citizen of all the ages.

So he must be a strangely bold and self-confident eulogist
who would attempt even on such an occasion as this to add
anything to the total of affection, admiration, and reverence
which has been reared as the true memorial of Washington.
It is impossible for us to add to or take from the estimate
which has been fixed by the generations of the world.

But if the preeminent place of Washington is thus es-
tablished beyond possibility of change at our hands, it is
only the more desirable that on this anniversary we should
come here to do our reverence and to seek replenishment
of the inspiration which is always to be drawn from con-
sideration of his life and works. To the people of the

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WASHINGTON 267

Republic whose existence is due to his leadership, his life
is the full and finished teaching of citizenship. To others,
who may claim him only by virtue of the right of humanity
to be heir to all the ages,, his story is replete with example
and admonition peculiarly applicable to the problems of
the world and its peoples in these times.

We have come here because this day a century and a
half ago, and in this place, Washington formally assumed
command of the armies of the Colonies. His feet trod this
soil. Here was his headquarters. Here was his place of
worship. Our first view therefore is of Washington the
soldier. But he was indeed so much more than the soldier; n

his talents were so many and so perfectly proportioned,
that it is impossible to study him in any one of his capaci-
ties, to the exclusion of the others. In him, we find also a
marvelous instinct for statecraft, supporting and sustaining
an equal genius for camp and field. We see moreover the
qualities of a great man of business, which he brings to
serve the vast task of organizing and equipping his armies.
We find him on one day writing a noble and eloquent re- II

buke to a commander of the King's forces who was bent
on waiving the laws of civilized warfare; and on another,
addressing compelling counsels of patriotism, energy, and
executive sense, to the Continental Congress and the pro-
vincial legislatures. In everything he was called to be the
leader. In everything, his leadership wrought results which
completely vindicated the confidence reposed in him.

The complaint has been many times uttered that Wash-
ington was so nearly a paragon of abilities and virtues that
it is impossible to see through the aura of perfections to
the real, simple, human man. But there is a phase of
Washington's career which, fully studied and understood,
will give us the picture of him as one of the most human
men in history. To inform ourselves of this human side,
we need only to know of the long years of arduous prepara-

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268 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

tion which preceded the historic event which took place
here 150 years ago to-day.

From his earliest manhood, Washington's life had been
a part of great affairs. Many of those affairs were vastly
greater and more significant than he himself, or indeed any-
body else, could possibly have realized at the time. He
had come up through a schooling of strangely mingled ad-
versities and successes. He had devoted hard and disap-
pointing years to activities which resulted, aside from the
training which he derived, in little more than hopeless
futilities. Nobody can know the real Washington, the man
Washington, without studying closely his services to the
Virginia Colony and the British Crown, during the years
immediately preceding and covering the old French War.
Here we see him as a young man, in whom the combination
of rare and remarkable parts is most easily discerned. We
find him, at times, hot-headed and impetuous, always in-
tensely impatient with incompetency in places of authority.

From the beginning we discover a special genius for
commanding the respect and attention of older men. When
hardly more than a boy he was chosen for a responsible
and difficult mission to the French on the western frontier.
This mission brought him in contact with an important
French officer who reported to his Government that this
young man was likely to make more trouble for French
interests in America than any fifty other people. That ob-
servation was more profound than its maker could have
realized. Washington had been sent with a small force, as
the emissary of Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, to notify
the French that their aggressions in the upper Ohio terri-
tory were occasion of deep concern to the British colonies,
and must cease. It was the wish of Washington and his
superiors that the message be delivered without bringing
about any clash at arms. But events decreed otherwise,
and a skirmish took place in the wilderness in which a num-

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WASHINGTON 269

ber of men were killed and wounded, among them a French
officer of some rank and importance. It is deeply sugges-
tive of the destiny which had marked Washington that
this backwoods brush at arms should have occasioned the
first bloodshed in that long series of wars which was to
drench the Western World for near two generations, and
did not end until the downfall of Napoleon.

From the day of that clash in the western forests of
Pennsylvania, precipitated by the determination of Wash-
ington to execute his mission, the Seven Years' War was a
foregone conclusion. Washington was denounced in France
as a murderer, a man-eating freebooter of the wilds. In H

England his boldness and determination won him a good
deal of reputation. In the Colonies there was much differ-
ence of opinion, for the time being, whether his course was
justified or had brought the country face to face with the
possibility of a disastrous struggle.

At any rate, from that day until the downfall of Napoleon ..

at Waterloo, there was no peace in either Europe or Amer-
ica, save for brief periods which represented little more II
than temporary truces. Doubtless that long and fearful
series of conflicts was inevitable. Whether it was or not,
the facts of history show Washington, a youth of twenty-
two, as the commander whose order proved the torch to set
a world on fire. From that hour, responsible men in both
Britain and France realized that there could be no lasting
peace until those countries had fought the duel which should
determine the supremacy of one or the other in the New
World. There was not room for both.

So came the Seven Years' War and the establishment of
British domination in North America. A little later came
the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the
Napoleonic wars. One can but wonder what might have
been the reflections of Washington, if he could have im-
agined on that July morning of 1754, when he resolved that

II

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270 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

he must fight, if he could have known the train of events
that would follow upon his determination. But such con-
jecture is of little value. To us there is more of immediate
interest in the curious coincidence that the skirmish for
possession of Fort Necessity took place on July 3, 1754,
exactly twenty-one years before the day when Washington
in this place assumed command of the Continental Army.

And those twenty-one years, as Washington lived them,
constituted a fitting probation for the career that awaited
him. The echoes of the little battle of Fort Necessity rever-
berated throughout the American Colonies and the Euro-
pean courts as if it had been an engagement of Titans. Its
political effects were tremendous. It made Washington a
marked man throughout the Colonies and gave him a real
European reputation.

His part in the Braddock expedition, though vastly bet-
ter known, probably had less effect in forming his character
or directing his career than this expedition to Fort Neces-
sity. Nevertheless, his reputation was further increased
by his conduct in the Braddock campaign. But that heroic
episode was followed by a long and disappointing experi-
ence as head of the Virginia forces defending the western
frontier. He saw little of satisfying service during this
period. But he learned the supreme importance of organ-
ization and preparation in connection with military opera-
tions. In the end it was his privilege to lead his Virginians
to the occupation of Fort Pitt, when it was finally surren-
dered by the French. But the real campaign for control
of the Ohio Valley was made from the north by General
Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham rather than from Virginia,
and Washington found his part in it disappointingly small.

Not only the Braddock campaign of 1755, but his earlier
operations, both diplomatic and military, on the upper
Ohio, marked him as a man of caution, sagacity, and wis-
dom in planning and conducting military operations. At

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WASHINGTON 271

the same time, they showed him as the intrepid and fearless
fighting soldier in the hours of action.

One thing that Washington learned during the French
War must have contributed greatly to form his opinions
about relations between Britain and the Colonies. He
was brought to realize that the form of colonial govern-
ment, with which bitter experience made him so familiar,
could not long satisfy the people of the larger, wealthier,
and fast-growing Colonies. With Washington, the idea of
substantial freedom long preceded that of independence.
Like most of the colonial youth, he hoped that a more en-
lightened policy in London and a more sympathetic execu-
tion of it by the royal governors might compose the grow-
ing differences. During the troublous epoch between the
French War and the Revolution he thought deeply of these
matters, and his correspondence gives evidence of the grow-
ing impression that a contest must come. He followed the ll
development of events in Massachusetts with a close and ll
understanding concern. His writings and occasional public
pronouncements during this period show him acutely
anxious that the Colonies should present a united front I
when the test came. One in his position of leadership, I
authority, and independent fortune, living as a Virginia
gentleman, might easily enough have felt that the troubles
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had small concern for
him. High Churchman, conformist in most things, enjoy-
ing excellent repute in England and with English officials
in America, his influence might logically enough have been
thrown to the royalists. Yet, as early as the spring of
1769, he wrote declaring, "Our lordly masters in Great Brit-
ain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation
of American freedom * * *." And, inquiring what could
be done to avert such a calamity, he added, "That no man
should scruple or hesitate a moment to use arms in defense
of so valuable a blessing is clearly my opinion. Yet, arms,

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272 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

I would beg to add, should be the last resource." A little
later, in that same year, Washington, at a public meeting,
offered a non-importation resolution and secured its
adoption.

In short, it is plain that he was anxious to keep the senti-
ment of the southern Colonies fully in step and sympathy
with the attitude of the New England patriots who at the
moment were bearing the brunt of the struggle for colonial
rights. Seemingly, the Boston port bill convinced him that
the Colonies must prepare for the harshest eventualities.
At a meeting of the citizens of his county he helped draft
a petition and remonstrance to the King, which concluded
with the ominous words, "From our sovereign there can
be but one appeal." Such a declaration, coming from one
whose repute was high in all the Colonies, and who was be-
ginning to speak with the voice of something like authority
for the southern communities, could not fail to strengthen
the arm and purpose of the New Englanders.

The selection of Washington to command the Continen-
tal Armies has, I think, been too much attributed to his
high military repute and too little to the fact that he had
long taken the view of a true statesman regarding the
impending crisis. The fact is that he had all along seen
the struggle as a continental and national one. He realized
that Massachusetts could not win alone, nor could New
England. In helping to set up the committee of corre-
spondence, in molding the sentiment of Virginia, in his
service as member of the Continental Congress, the ideal of
a firm and whole-hearted union of all the Colonies was
plainly fundamental. Repeatedly, in his writings, even
long before the struggle had seriously suggested the possi-
bility of war, he used the phrase, "Our Country," giving it
an application vastly broader than the domain or concerns
of any single colony. He was kmong the first to see the
vision of an American Nation. No other man so early

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WASHINGTON 273

grasped certain physical and geographic arguments which
urged nationality as inevitable.

In this his engineering training, together with his inti-
mate knowledge of the topography of the Ohio and Potomac
Valleys, had an important part. As a young surveyor he
realized the importance of that break through the Allegheny
system which these two valleys mark. Many years later
he pointed out its strategic importance in connection with
the defense and unity of the Colonies fronting the Atlantic.
Before the Ohio was much more than a myth to most peo-
ple, even in Virginia, Washington saw that the Ohio basin
must be controlled by the Colonies if they were to be secure.

Thus it was that a complete and clear vision of all the
arguments for national unity was due to the many-sided-
ness of the Washington mind. He saw it as politician, as
statesman, as military man, as engineer. Without such a
grasp of all the elements, he could not have taken the states- H

manly and essentially national view of the problem before H

hostilities began. Nor could he have dealt effectively with
its military aspects during the war. He possessed one of
those rarely endowed minds which not only recognize all the
factors, but assign to each its proper weight.

He was in truth a consummate politician. When he went
to the sittings of the Continental Congress, wearing his
Virginia uniform of buff and blue, some were inclined to
ridicule the display of military predilection. They accused
him of swashbuckling, and pointed to his uniform as
equivalent to announcement of his candidacy for Comman-
der in Chief. In the first, they were utterly wrong; in the
second, quite probably right. That uniform, when he pre-
sided over the committees on military preparation, could
hardly have beer construed as meaning anything other than
that its wearer realized what was ahead and was willing
to force some part of that realization on others.

I suppose if we were to pick any two men out of that

274 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

gathering, to be set down as something other than politi-
cians, Washington and sturdy old John Adams would be
well toward the top in the polling. Though they ap-
proached the matter from utterly different angles, they were
both led by the sagacity of great politicians to the same
conclusion. To both, the crisis was essentially national.
A nation must be created to deal with it. The army before
Boston must be taken over by the Congress as a national
army. There must be a Commander in Chief, supreme in
the military field. All this we look back upon as illumined
statesmanship. But statesmanship is nothing more than
good, sound politics, tested and proved. That is what it
was when John Adams conceived the great strategy of
calling a man of the South to the chief command. A more
provincial man might have dreamed of Massachusetts,
aided by the other colonies, taking and holding the lead
and garnering the lion's share of glory. But Adams was
planning in terms of a nation, not of provinces ; and Wash-
ington had for years been writing of "Our Country." So
Washington put on his uniform in testimony of his readi-
ness for whatever might happen, and Adams, after some
period of misgivings, set about convincing the delegates
from New England and the middle Colonies that there must
be a nation, and a national army, with a Commander in
Chief, and that must be Washington.

It was a stroke of political genius that Adams, soul of
Puritanic idealism, should have moved the adoption of the
army by Congress and the selection of Washington as Com-
mander in Chief. The selection was made without a dis-
senting vote, though it is not true to say that Washington
was unanimously preferred. Already there were clashing
ambitions and divergent community interests. But Adams
saw, and made others see, the peculiar reasons that urged
Washington. The middle Colonies, dominated by their
landed aristocracies, had much in common with the social

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WASHINGTON 275

and economic system of the South. To them Washington
meant the enlistment of property, substance, and eminent
respectability. In presenting his name to the Congress
Adams described him in terms which seem prophetic, and
which we can hardly improve: "A gentleman, whose skill
and experience as an officer, whose independent fortune,
great talents, and excellent universal character would com-
mand the approbation of all America and unite the cordial
exertions of all the Colonies better than any other person
in the Union. "

Let it ever be set down to the glory of Massachusetts
that John Adams made George Washington Commander in
Chief of the Continental Armies and John Marshall Chief It

Justice of the United States. Destiny could have done no
more.

Immediately after his selection, Washington set out from
Philadelphia for Boston. On the way he received first tid- ll

ings of the Battle of Bunker Hill, which had been fought ll

two days after he was named commander. He inquired
eagerly about the behavior of the continental troops, and
when he learned how splendidly they had fought against
the British regulars he quietly declared that the liberties
of the country were safe. In that anxious hour the battle
of twenty years earlier in the Pennsylvania's woods, wherein
his Virginia militia had saved Braddock's regulars from de-
struction, no doubt was near the top of his mind. To be
assured that the raw levies of New England were capable
of behaving just as well in 1775 as his Virginians had done
in 1755 must have been intensely reassuring.

Knowing the story of the Revolution as we do, we can not
doubt that the historic event which took place here 150
years ago to-day marked one of its crises. Even with
Washington, the struggle was well-nigh lost at several peri-
ods. Of course, the ultimate separation of the Colonies
from the mother country was inevitable. Had the Revolu-

276 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

tion of 1775 failed, as it must have failed without Wash-
ington, there would have been harsh and vindictive re-
prisals. Nobody can read the arrogant pronouncements of
Lord North's government or the still more arrogant letters
of General Gage to Washington and avoid conviction that
the British Government and its American military repre-
sentatives would have vied with each other in efforts to
estrange the Colonies. Such a policy would have estab-
lished traditions of animosity that would have kept the
struggle alive even after a nominal peace. In the end
separation would have come. But it might have been de-
layed through many recurrences of turbulence and struggle.
It was vastly to the good of both the mother country and
the Colonies that, the conflict being once begun, it was
brought to a decisive conclusion.

There is another reason why the final victory of the
Colonies was important to the world. It was just as neces-
sary for the maintenance of the British Empire as for the
proper development of the American community. I believe
this view is now generally accepted by British students as
well as Americans. We may be sure that it was in the mind
of the great Chatham, who had laid the foundations of the
British Empire in the Seven Years' War. If there was a
man in all that realm who might well have been given at-
tention when the American crisis was developing, that man
was Chatham. He had found Britain weak and had built
it into strength. He had well-nigh made the whole North
American Continent British. He had reestablished the
empire and extended it in many directions. Yet Chatham
knew that Lord North's policies would surely cost the loss
of the American dominion. Emerging from a long political
retirement, defying the doctors he hated and the King he
had served, the grand old man hurried down to the House
of Lords to pronounce his allegiance to the cause of the
Colonies. "When your lordships," said he, "look at the

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WASHINGTON 277

papers transmitted to us from America; when you consider
their decency, their firmness, their wisdom, you can not but
respect their cause and wish to make it your own." That
decency, firmness, and wisdom were in no small part George
Washington.

Chatham knew what it had been to build an empire; he
would not see it thrown away without having his protest
heard. He spoke the voice of liberalism in England; but
the King and his ministers had no ear for such counsels.
They had fixed their course and could not be swerved.

Washington's assumption of the command gave the colo-
nial cause an effective national character. Had he not pos-
sessed the genius and the power to impress others with that
conception, it is hardly conceivable that disaster could long
have been postponed. He found himself in command of an
unorganized, undisciplined, unprovisioned, and unmuni-
tioned body of some 14,000 militia, opposing an army of ll

11,000 regulars shut up in Boston and supported by a naval ll

power that completely commanded the seas. Washington
was called first to make an army, then to drive his enemy
out of Boston, and then to meet attack at whatever point
along the coast the enemy might choose. Where many J

others, quite as sincere in their patriotism, fondly imagined
that the evacuation of Boston would move the London gov-
ernment to make peace, he was convinced that it would be
little more than the beginning. For the long struggle he
foresaw, he had to prepare, not only by creating an army
but by convincing the civil authority and the people that
he must have the utmost measure of their support and co-
operation. So we find him, immediately upon assuming
his command, dividing his time between military tasks and
the writing of endless letters to the leaders of the Congress,
to the provincial assemblies, to men of importance every-
where, designed to impress them with the enormity of the
coming struggle.

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278 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

This is not the time or place for a review of Washington's
military career. Yet there are phases of that career which
I am never able to pass over without a word of wonder and
admiration because of some of the exploits which it includes.

It is recorded that a few evenings after the surrender of
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown a banquet was given by
Washington and his staff to the British commander and
his staff. One likes to contemplate the sportsmanship of
that function. Amiabilities and good wishes were duly ex-
changed, and finally Lord Cornwallis rose to present his
compliments to Washington. There had been much talk of
past campaigning experiences, and Cornwallis, turning to
Washington, expressed the judgment that when history's
verdict was made up "the brightest garlands for your ex-
cellency will be gathered, not from the shores of the Chesa-
peake, but from the banks of the Delaware." We may
fairly assume that Cornwallis, in the fullness of a very
personal experience, was qualified to judge. Washington
had outgeneralled and defeated him both on the banks of
the Delaware and the shores of the Chesapeake. In giving
the laurels to the Trenton-Princeton campaign, he ex-
pressed not only his own judgment, but the estimate which
was afterwards pronounced by Frederick the Great, who
declared that the Trenton-Princeton campaign was the
most brilliant military performance of the century. For
myself, without pretense of military wisdom, the lightning-
like stroke of Trenton and Princeton in its supreme au-
dacity and ideal execution has always seemed the most
perfectly timed combination of military genius and political
wisdom that we find in the records of warfare.

On the other hand, much can be urged to support the
claim that Yorktown was the most brilliant campaign of
Washington. With an army on the point of disintegration,
he was almost utterly unable to get supplies and transport.
Yet he managed to withdraw his forces from before New

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WASHINGTON 279

York and get them well on the way to Virginia before his
enemy seriously suspected his design. It was a miracle of
military skill, diplomacy, and determination, to effect on
the Virginia Peninsula that consolidation of forces from
south and north, along with the French army and fleet, at
precisely the right moment. The essence of strategy is to
divide the forces of the enemy and defeat them in detail;
and there are few campaigns which show a commander ac-
complishing this through operations covering so extended a
territory and involving so many difficulties.

In the Yorktown campaign we see all the varied elements
of Washington's genius at work. He had to deal at once
with an inert Congress that was threatening at this critical
moment actually to reduce the Army. He had to find sup-
plies and money or get along without them. In part he ij
did one, in part the other. He had to effect a junction of ll
widely separated forces and to maintain secrecy to the last ll
moment. Everything must be done within a period of ll
time so short that it might well have made success appear
utterly impossible, because he could not count on the co-
operation of the French for a longer period. All these
things he accomplished. Accomplishing them, he won the
war, as in the campaign of Trenton and Princeton he had
saved the Revolution. No man could have rendered his
service to the Revolution who was not both a soldier and
statesman. He understood, and he never underestimated,
the political bearings of every move.

When he retired to Mount Vernon, Washington entered
upon a new phase of his career. He had won the war but
he was a man of peace. His experience as Commander in
Chief had completely convinced him that the form of gov-
ernment under the confederation could not possibly serve
the necessities of the country. It is not possible here to
outline the discouragements which threatened the country
with all manner of disasters. Washington, as the most in-

ll

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280 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

fluential citizen, was the inevitable leader in preparing for
the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the establish-
ment of a real nation. That task he took up early, and to
it he devoted an energy and a wisdom that were alike amaz-
ing. It was quite nacural that he should be chosen to pre-
side over the Constitutional Convention. When its work
was done, his influence was one of the chief forces to bring
about ratification. After that, there was none to question
that he must be the first President under the new regime.

Perhaps no character in history has been subjected to
more close study or sympathetic analysis than that of
Washington. The volume of his writings which have been
left to us is enormous. Moreover, from earliest manhood
his life was lived almost continuously under intense public
observation. It is therefore remarkable that biographers
and eulogists should be so generally accused of failing to
give us a satisfying picture of him. The fault, however, is
not his, but theirs. The explanation is that no biographer
has possessed, and probably none ever will possess, the full-
rounded measure of qualification to appreciate, to under-
stand, to apportion, and to weigh all the elements that
made this man. Unfortunately, a vast myth was early built
around Washington, difficult to avoid, and not even yet
entirely dissipated. Among his biographers and eulogists,
some have seen first and most admiringly the great soldier.
Some have been most engaged with him as the statesman-
politician, dealing with great affairs from day to day as
circumstances demanded. Others have devoted themselves
particularly to portraying him as the constructive student
of government, and builder of institutions. Still others
have found their first inspiration in his work as a wise, firm,
and discriminating administrator.

Volumes have been written, and they are exceedingly in-
teresting volumes, on Washington as a pioneer of modern
scientific agriculture. It is interesting to recall that in their

MM

WASHINGTON 281

tastes for agriculture Washington and his great antagonist,
King George III, stood on a common ground. Whoever
cares to familiarize himself with this particular detail in
the careers of Washington and the King will find that these
two might in other circumstances have been the best of
friends. For both were devoted admirers and supporters of
Arthur Young, the famous English traveler and agricultural
authority. In the last year or two before the beginning of
the French Revolution, Young traveled extensively through-
out France. He kept a journal of his observations and
experiences that has since been invaluable to whoever
wished to know conditions in the France of that time. Be-
sides all this Arthur Young was almost the founder of the il
modern science and technique of advanced agriculture.
He wrote and published voluminously on such subjects as
rotation of crops, scientific fertilization, farm drainage, the
breeding of livestock, the growing of plants, and many other ll
subjects which are now commonplaces. King George be- il
came interested in his work and turned over to him some
farms of the royal domain to be conducted as the earliest
agricultural experiment stations.

Young published an agricultural journal devoted to his
theories and experiments, and to it Washington became a
subscriber. This led him into a correspondence with
Young, which seems to have been quite extended. Con-
vinced that the Young program represented much of value
to American agriculture, Washington offered to set aside
one of his farms, to be managed by English experts, if
Young would enlist them. Apparently nothing finally
came of this proposal, but the fact that it was made, and
seriously considered, shows how near Washington and King
George came to an intimate association for the betterment
of agriculture. Indeed, inside of two years after the end
of the Revolution, Washington appealed to Young to buy
and ship to him an invoice of agricultural implements and

282 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

seeds with which Washington desired to experiment. On
investigation, Young discovered that British law forbade
these exports. So he went to the Minister for Home Affairs,
Lord Grenville, and pleaded for permission to send them.
It was immediately granted, and by the courtesy of the
British Government the entire order was filled. The inci-
dent is an interesting indication of the liberal disposition
manifested, so soon after the war, by leading men of both
countries.

It is a pleasant thing to be privileged to recall on an occa-
sion like this such a bit of evidence touching the underlying
community of interest between the old Kingdom and the
new Republic in matters of common concern and human
advancement. Washington was the last person to harbor
resentments; and in this and other instances he more than
once found his former enemies ready to meet him half way.
As we look back now on a century and more of uninter-
rupted peace between the two nations, we can not but feel
that such peace and the long period of international cooper-
ation which it has made possible have been in no small
part a testimony to the generous willingness of all men
everywhere to recognize as the first citizen of the world
him who has been so long acclaimed as the first American.

It had been my expectation to confine my address to
General Washington and leave the stately and solemn
grandeur of this great figure as the sole subject for the
thought of those who might hear me. I shall not enter into
the vain speculation of what he might do if he were living
to-day. Yet his farewell address shows conclusively that
he hoped to be able to lay down certain principles of con-
duct for his fellow countrymen which would be of advan-
tage to them so long as the Nation into which he had
wrought his life might endure. No doubt he knew the
whole world would hear him. He had seen the life of the
soldier in time of war and after that of the statesman in

ma

WASHINGTON 283

time of peace. He had an abiding faith in honesty. He
believed mightily in his fellow men. The vigor with which
he insisted on the prosecution of war was no less than the
vigor with which he insisted on the observance of peace.
He cherished no resentments, he harbored no hatreds, he
forgave his enemies. He felt the same obligation to execute
the terms of a treaty made for the benefit of a former foe
that he felt to require the observance of those made for
the benefit of his own country. He realized that peace
could be the result only of mutual forbearance and mutual
good faith. I

He harmonized the divergent and conflicting interests of
different nationalities and different colonial governments
by conference and agreement. He demonstrated by his
arguments, and our country has demonstrated by experi-
ence, that more progress can be made by cooperation than
by conflict. To agree quickly with your adversary always j

pays. ,

The world has not outgrown, it can never outgrow, the
absolute necessity for conformity to these eternal principles.
I want to see America assume a leadership among the na-
tions in the reliance upon the good faith of mankind. I J
do not see how civilization can expect permanent progress
on any other theory. If what is saved in the productive
peace of to-day is to be lost in the destructive war of to-
morrow, the people of this earth can look forward to nothing
but everlasting servitude. There is no justification for
hope. This was not the conception which Washington had
of life.

If the people of the Old World are mutually distrustful
of each other let them enter into mutual covenants for
their mutual security, and when such covenants have been
made let them be solemnly observed no matter what the
sacrifice. They have settled the far more difficult problems
of reparations, they are in process of funding their debts

i

284 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to us, why can they not agree on permanent terms of
peace and fully reestablish international faith and credit?
If there be differences which can not be adjusted at the
moment, if there be conditions which can not be foreseen,
let them be resolved in the future by methods of arbitration
and by the forms of judicial determination.

While our own country should refrain from making politi-
cal commitments where it does not have political interests,
such covenants would always have the moral support of
our Government and could not fail to have the commenda-
tion of the public opinion of the world. Such a course
would be sure to endow the participating nations with an
abundant material and spiritual reward. On what other
basis can there be any encouragement for a disposition to
attempt to finance a revival of Europe? The world has
tried war with force and has utterly failed. The only hope
of success lies in peace with justice. No other principle
conforms to the teaching of Washington ; no other standard
is worthy of the spirit of America; no other course makes
so much promise for the regeneration of the world.

■m

XXVII

// we are to have that harmony and tranquillity,
that union of spirit which is the foundation of
real national genius and national progress, we
must all realize that there are true Americans
who did not happen to be bom in our section of
the country, who do not attend our place of re-
ligious w or ship f who are not of our racial stock,
or who are not proficient in our language. If we I

are to create on this continent a free Republic I

and an enlightened civilization that will be
capable of reflecting the true greatness and glory
of mankind, it will be necessary to regard these
differences as accidental and unessential.. We
shall have to look beyond the outward manifes-
tations of race and creed. Divine Providence
has not bestowed upon any race a monopoly of
patriotism and character.

HI II

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_^_M»

TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM

It is a high privilege to sit as a member of this conven-
tion. Those who exercise it have been raised to the rank
of a true nobility. It is a mark of personal merit which did
not come by right of birth but by right of conquest. No
one can ever question your title as patriots. No one can
ever doubt the place of affection and honor which you hold
forevermore in the heart of the Nation. Your right to be
here results from what you dared and what you did and
the sacrifices which you made for our common country.
It is all a glorious story of American enterprise and Ameri-
can valor. I

The magnitude of the service which you rendered to your I

country and to humanity is beyond estimation. Sharp out-
lines here and there we know, but the whole account of I
the World War would be on a scale so stupendous that it
could never be recorded. In the victory which was finally J
gained by you and your foreign comrades, you represented
on the battle field the united efforts of our whole people.
You were there as the result of a great resurgence of the
old American spirit, which manifested itself in a thousand
ways — by the pouring out of vast sums of money in credits
and charities, by the organization and quickening of every
hand in our extended industries, by the expansion of agri-
culture until it met the demands of famishing continents,
by the manufacture of an unending stream of munitions and
supplies, by the creation of vast fleets of war and transport
ships, and, finally, when the tide of battle was turning

Before the American Legion Convention at Omaha, Nebraska, October
6, 1925.

287

288 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

against our associates, by bringing into action a great armed
force on sea and land of a character that the world had
never seen before, which, when it finally took its place
in the line, never ceased to advance, carrying the cause of
liberty to a triumphant conclusion. You reaffirmed the
position of this Nation in the estimation of mankind. You
saved civilization from a gigantic reverse. Nobody says
now that Americans can not fight.

Our people were influenced by many motives to under-
take to carry on this gigantic conflict, but we went in and
came out singularly free from those questionable causes
and results which have often characterized other wars.
We were not moved by the age-old antagonisms of racial
jealousies and hatreds. We were not seeking to gratify
the ambitions of any reigning dynasty. We were not in-
spired by trade and commercial rivalries. We harbored no
imperialistic designs. We feared no other country. We
coveted no territory. But the time came when we were
compelled to defend our own property and protect the rights
and lives of our own citizens. We believed, moreover, that
those institutions which we cherish with a supreme affec-
tion, and which lie at the foundation of our whole scheme
of human relationship, the right of freedom, of equality, of
self-government, were all in jeopardy. We thought the
question was involved of whether the people of the earth
were to rule or whether they were to be ruled. We thought
that we were helping to determine whether the principle
of despotism or the principle of liberty should be the pre-
vailing standard among the nations. Then, too, our coun-
try all came under the influence of a great wave of idealism.
The crusading spirit was aroused. The cause of civilization,
the cause of humanity, made a compelling appeal. No
doubt there were other motives, but these appear to me the
chief causes which drew America into the World War.

In a conflict which engaged all the major nations of the

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TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 289

earth and lasted for a period exceeding four years, there
could be no expectation of material gains. War in its very-
essence means destruction. Never before were contending
peoples so well equipped with every kind of infernal engine
calculated to spread desolation on land and over the face
of the deep. Our country is only but now righting itself
and beginning a moderate but steady recovery from the
great economic loss which it sustained. That tremendous
debt must be liquidated through the laborious toil of our
people. Modern warfare becomes more and more to mean
utter loss, destruction, and desolation of the best that there
is of any people, its valiant youth and its accumulated
treasure. If our country secured any benefit, if it met with
any gain, it must have been in moral and spiritual values.
It must be not because it made its fortune but because it
found its soul. Others may disagree with me, but in spite
of some incidental and trifling difficulties it is my firm
opinion that America has come out of the war with a I

stronger determination to live by the rule of righteousness
and pursue the course of truth and justice in both our
domestic and foreign relations. No one can deny that we
have protected the rights of our citizens, laid a firmer ,

foundation for our institutions of liberty, and made our
contribution to the cause of civilization and humanity.
In doing all this we found that, though of many different
nationalities, our people had a spiritual bond. They were
all Americans.

When we look over the rest of the world, in spite of all its
devastation there is encouragement to believe it is on a
firmer moral foundation than it was in 1914. Much of
the old despotism has been swept away, While some of it
comes creeping back disguised under new names, no one
can doubt that the general admission of the right of the
people to self-government has made tremendous progress
in nearly every quarter of the globe. In spite of the stag-

i

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290 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

gering losses and the grievous burden of taxation, there is
a new note of hope for the individual to be more secure in
his rights, which is unmistakably clearer than ever before.
With all the troubles that beset the Old World, the former
cloud of fear is evidently not now so appalling. It is im-
possible to believe that any nation now feels that it could
better itself by war, and it is apparent to me that there has
been a very distinct advance in the policy of peaceful and
honorable adjustment of international differences. War
has become less probable; peace has become more secure.
The price which has been paid to bring about this new
condition is utterly beyond comprehension. We can not
see why it should not have come in orderly and peaceful
methods without the attendant shock of fire and sword and
carnage. We only know that it is here. We believe that
on the ruins of the old order a better civilization is being
constructed.

We had our domestic problems which resulted from the
war. The chief of these was the care and relief of the
afflicted veterans and their dependents. This was a tre-
mendous task, on which about $3,000,000,000 has already
been expended. No doubt there have been cases where
the unworthy have secured aid, while the worthy have gone
unrelieved. Some mistakes were inevitable, but our people
and our Government have at all times been especially
solicitous to discharge most faithfully this prime obligation.
What is now being done is related to you in detail by Gen-
eral Hines, of the Veterans' Bureau, a public official of
demonstrated merit, so that I shall not dwell upon it. Dur-
ing the past year, under the distinguished and efficient
leadership of Commander Drain, the Legion itself has un-
dertaken to provide an endowment fund of $5,000,000 to
minister to the charitable requirements of their comrades.
The response to this appeal has been most generous and
the results appear most promising. The Government can

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TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 291

do much, but it can never supply the personal relationship
that comes from the ministrations of a private charity of
that kind.

The next most pressing problem was the better ordering
of the finances of the Nation. Our Government was costing
almost more than it was worth. It had more people on
the pay roll than were necessary, all of which made ex-
penses too much and taxes too high. This inflated condi-
tion contributed to the depression which began in 1920.
But the Government expenditures have been almost cut in
two, taxes have been twice reduced, and the incoming
Congress will provide further reductions. Deflation has
run its course and an era of business activity and general
prosperity, exceeding anything ever before experienced in
this country and fairly well distributed among all our peo-
ple, is already at hand.

Our country has a larger Army and a more powerful

Navy, costing annually almost twice as much as it ever

before had in time of peace. I am a thorough believer in

a policy of adequate military preparation. We are con- I

stantly working to perfect our defenses in every branch,

land forces, air forces, surface and submarine forces. That

. . . II

work will continue. Our Military Establishment of the

Army and Navy, the National Guard, and the Reserve
Corps is far superior to anything we have ever maintained
before, except in time of war. In the past six years we have
expended about $4,000,000,000 for this purpose. That
ought to show results, and those who have correct informa-
tion know that it does show results. The country can rest
assured that if security lies in military force, it was never
so secure before in all its history.

We have been attempting to relieve ourselves and the
other nations from the old theory of competitive arma-
ments. In spite of all the arguments in favor of great
military forces, no nation ever had an army large enough

292 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to guarantee it against attack in time of peace or to insure
its victory in time of war. No nation ever will. Peace and
security are more likely to result from fair and honorable
dealings, and mutual agreements for a limitation of arma-
ments among nations, than by any attempt at competition
in squadrons and battalions. No doubt this country could,
if it wished to spend more money, make a better military
force, but that is only part of the problem which con-
fronts our Government. The real question is whether
spending more money to make a better military force would
really make a better country. I would be the last to dis-
parage the military art. It is an honorable and patriotic
calling of the highest rank. But I can see no merit in any
unnecessary expenditure of money to hire men to build
fleets and carry muskets when international relations and
agreements permit the turning of such resources into the
making of good roads, the building of better homes, the
promotion of education, and all the other arts of peace
which minister to the advancement of human welfare.
Happily, the position of our country is such among the
other nations of the world that we have been and shall be
warranted in proceeding in this direction.

While it is true that we are paying out far more money
and maintaining a much stronger Military Establishment
than ever before, because of the conditions stated, we have
been able to pursue a moderate course. Our people have
had all the war, all the taxation, and all the military service
that they want. They have therefore wished to emphasize
their attachment to our ancient policy of peace. They
have insisted upon economy. They have supported the
principle of limitation of armaments. They have been able
to do this because of their position and their strength in
numbers and in resources. We have a tremendous natural
power which supplements our arms. We are conscious that
no other nation harbors any design to put us in jeopardy.

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TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 293

It is our purpose in our intercourse with foreign powers
to rely not on the strength of our fleets and our armies but
on the justice of our cause. For these reasons our country-
has not wished to maintain huge military forces. It has
been convinced that it could better serve itself and better
serve humanity by using its resources for other purposes.

In dealing with our military problems there is one prin-
ciple that is exceedingly important. Our institutions are
founded not on military power but on civil authority. We
are irrevocably committed to the theory of a government
by the people. We have our constitutions and our laws,
our executives, our legislatures, and our courts, but ulti-
mately we are governed by public opinion. Our forefathers
had seen so much of militarism, and suffered so much from
it, that they desired to banish it forever. They believed and
declared in at least one of their State constitutions that
the military power should be subordinate to and governed by
the civil authority. It is for this reason that any organiza-
tion of men in the military service bent on inflaming the
public mind for the purpose of forcing Government action II

through the pressure of public opinion is an exceedingly
dangerous undertaking and precedent. This is so whatever
form it might take, whether it be for the purpose of in-
fluencing the Executive, the legislature, or the heads of
departments. It is for the civil authority to determine what
appropriations shall be granted, what appointments shall be
made, and what rules shall be adopted for the conduct of
its armed forces. Whenever the military power starts dic-
tating to the civil authority, by whatsoever means adopted,
the liberties of the country are beginning to end. National
defense should at all times be supported, but any form of
militarism should be resisted.

Undoubtedly one of the most important provisions in the
preparation for national defense is a proper and sound
selective service act. Such a law ought to give authority

294 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

for a very broad mobilization of all the resources of the
country, both persons and materials. I can see some diffi-
culties in the application of the principle, for it is the pay-
ment of a higher price that stimulates an increased pro-
duction, but whenever it can be done without economic
dislocation such limits ought to be established in time of
war as would prevent so far as possible all kinds of profi-
teering. There is little defense which can be made of a
system which puts some men in the ranks on very small
pay and leaves others undisturbed to reap very large profits.
Even the income tax, which recaptured for the benefit of
the National Treasury alone about 75 per cent of such
profits, while local governments took part of the remainder,
is not a complete answer. The laying of taxes is, of course,
in itself a conscription of whatever is necessary of the
wealth of the country for national defense, but taxation does
not meet the full requirements of the situation. In the
advent of war, power should be lodged somewhere for the
stabilization of prices as far as that might be possible in
justice to the country and its defenders.

But it will always be impossible to harmonize justice and
war. It is always possible to purchase materials with
money, but patriotism can not be purchased. Unless the
people are willing to defend their country because of their
belief in it, because of their affection for it, and because it
is representative of their home, their country can not be
defended. If we are looking for a more complete reign of
justice, a more complete supremacy of law, a more complete
social harmony, we must seek it in the paths of peace.
Progress in these directions under the present order of the
world is not likely to be made except during a state of
domestic and international tranquillity. One of the great
questions before the nations to-day is how to promote such
tranquillity.

The economic problems of society are important. On

— ■—■ —— ■ ir.r r

TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 295

the whole, we are meeting them fairly well. They are so
personal and so pressing that they never fail to receive
constant attention. But they are only a part. We need
to put a proper emphasis on the other problems of society.
We need to consider what attitude of the public mind it is
necessary to cultivate in order that a mixed population like
our own may dwell together more harmoniously and the
family of nations reach a better state of understanding.
You who have been in the service know how absolutely
necessary it is in a military organization that the individual
subordinate some part of his personality for the general
good. That is the one great lesson which results from the
training of a soldier. WThoever has been taught that lesson
in camp and field is thereafter the better equipped to appre-
ciate that it is equally applicable in other departments of
life. It is necessary in the home, in industry and commerce,
in scientific and intellectual development. At the founda-
tion of every strong and mature character we find this
trait which is best described as being subject to discipline.
The essence of it is toleration. It is toleration in the broad-
est and most inclusive sense, a liberality of mind, which
gives to the opinions and judgments of others the same J

generous consideration that it asks for its own, and which
is moved by the spirit of the philosopher who declared
that "To know all is to forgive all." It may not be given
to infinite beings to attain that ideal, but it is none the less
one toward which we should strive.

One of the most natural of reactions during the war was
intolerance. But the inevitable disregard for the opinions
and feelings of minorities is none the less a disturbing prod-
uct of war psychology. The slow and difficult advances
which tolerance and liberalism have made through long
periods of development are dissipated almost in a night
when the necessary war-time habits of thought hold the
minds of the people. The necessity for a common purpose

I

ii

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296 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

and a united intellectual front becomes paramount to every-
thing else. But when the need for such a solidarity is past
there should be a quick and generous readiness to revert to
the old and normal habits of thought. There should be an
intellectual demobilization as well as a military demobiliza-
tion. Progress depends very largely on the encouragement
of variety. Whatever tends to standardize the community,
to establish fixed and rigid modes of thought, tends to fos-
silize society. If we all believed the same thing and thought
the same thoughts and applied the same valuations to all
the occurrences about us, we should reach a state of equilib-
rium closely akin to an intellectual and spiritual paralysis.
It is the ferment of ideas, the clash of disagreeing judg-
ments, the privilege of the individual to develop his own
thoughts and shape his own character, that makes prog-
ress possible. It is not possible to learn much from those
who uniformly agree with us. But many useful things are
learned from those who disagree with us ; and even when we
can gain nothing our differences are likely to do us no harm.
In this period of after-war rigidity, suspicion, and intol-
erance our own country has not been exempt from unfor-
tunate experiences. Thanks to our comparative isolation,
we have known less of the international frictions and rival-
ries than some other countries less fortunately situated.
But among some of the varying racial, religious, and social
groups of our people there have been manifestations of an
intolerance of opinion, a narrowness to outlook, a fixity of
judgment, against which we may well be warned. It is not
easy to conceive of anything that would be more unfor-
tunate in a community based upon the ideals of which
Americans boast than any considerable development of
intolerance as regards religion. To a great extent this coun-
try owes its beginnings to the determination of our hardy
ancestors to maintain complete freedom in religion. In-
stead of a state church we have decreed that every citizen

^^MMMMMHn^^MMMM^HaHflHMUX£

TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 297

shall be free to follow the dictates of his own conscience as
to his religious beliefs and affiliations. Under that guaranty
we have erected a system which certainly is justified by its
fruits. Under no other could we have dared to invite the
peoples of all countries and creeds to come here and unite
with us in creating the State of which we are all citizens.

But having invited them here, having accepted their
great and varied contributions to the building of the Nation,
it is for us to maintain in all good faith those liberal in-
stitutions and traditions which have been so productive of
good. The bringing together of all these different national,
racial, religious, and cultural elements has made our country
a kind of composite of the rest of the world, and we can
render no greater service than by demonstrating the possi-
bility of harmonious cooperation among so many various
groups. Every one of them has something characteristic
and significant of great value to cast into the common fund
of our material, intellectual, and spiritual resources.

The war brought a great test of our experiment in amal-
gamating these varied factors into a real Nation, with the
ideals and aspirations of a united people. None was ex-
cepted from the obligation to serve when the hour of danger ']
struck. The event proved that our theory had been sound.
On a solid foundation of a national unity there had been
erected a superstructure which in its varied parts had of-
fered full opportunity to develop all the range of talents
and genius that had gone into its making. Well-nigh all
the races, religions, and nationalities of the world were rep-
resented in the armed forces of this Nation, as they were
in the body of our population. No man's patriotism was
impugned or service questioned because of his racial origin,
his political opinion, or his religious convictions. Immi-
grants and sons of immigrants from the central European
countries fought side by side with those who descended from
the countries which were our allies; with the sons of equa-

298 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

torial Africa; and with the Red men of our own aboriginal
population, all of them equally proud of the name Ameri-
cans.

We must not, in times of peace, permit ourselves to lose
any part from this structure of patriotic unity. I make
no plea for leniency toward those who are criminal or
vicious, are open enemies of society and are not prepared
to accept the true standards of our citizenship. By toler-
ance I do not mean indifference to evil. I mean respect for
different kinds of good. Whether one traces his American-
isms back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years
to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his
Americanism of to-day is real and genuine. No matter by
what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the
same boat. You men constituted the crew of our "Ship of
State" during her passage through the roughest waters.
You made up the watch and held the danger posts when
the storm was fiercest. You brought her safely and trium-
phantly into port. Out of that experience you have learned
the lessons of discipline, tolerance, respect for authority,
and regard for the basic manhood of your neighbor. You
bore aloft a standard of patriotic conduct and civic integ-
rity, to which all could repair. Such a standard, with a
like common appeal, must be upheld just as firmly and
unitedly now in time of peace. Among citizens honestly
devoted to the maintenance of that standard, there need be
small concern about differences of individual opinion in
other regards. Granting first the essentials of loyalty to
our country and to our fundamental institutions, we may
not only overlook, but we may encourage differences of
opinion as to other things. For differences of this kind will
certainly be elements of strength rather than of weakness.
They will give variety to our tastes and interests. They
will broaden our vision, strengthen our understanding, en-
courage the true humanities, and enrich our whole mode

warn

TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 299

and conception of life. I recognize the full and complete
necessity of 100 per cent Americanism, but 100 per cent
Americanism may be made up of many various elements.

If we are to have that harmony and tranquillity, that
union of spirit which is the foundation of real national
genius and national progress, we must all realize that there
are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our
section of the country, who do not attend our place of re-
ligious worship, who are not of our racial stock, or who are
not proficient in our language. If we are to create on this
continent a free Republic and an enlightened civilization
that will be capable of reflecting the true greatness and
glory of mankind, it will be necessary to regard these dif- I

ferences as accidental and unessential. We shall have to
look beyond the outward manifestations of race and creed.
Divine Providence has not bestowed upon any race a
monopoly of patriotism and character. I

The same principle that it is necessary to apply to the I

attitude of mind among our own people it is also necessary
to apply to the attitude of mind among the different nations.
During the war we were required not only to put a strong
emphasis on everything that appealed to our own national jj

pride but an equally strong emphasis on that which tended
to disparage other peoples. There was an intensive culti-
vation of animosities and hatreds and enmities, together
with a blind appeal to force, that took possession of sub-
stantially all the peoples of the earth. Of course, these min-
istered to the war spirit. They supplied the incentive for
destruction, the motive for conquest. But in time of peace
these sentiments are not helps but hindrances; they are
not constructive. The generally expressed desire of "Amer-
ica first" can not be criticized. It is a perfectly correct aspi-
ration for our people to cherish. But the problem which
we have to solve is how to make America first. It can not
be done by the cultivation of national bigotry, arrogance,

I III

300 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

or selfishness. Hatreds, jealousies, and suspicions will not
be productive of any benefits in this direction. Here again
we must apply the rule of toleration. Because there are
other peoples whose ways are not our ways, and whose
thoughts are not our thoughts, we are not warranted in
drawing the conclusion that they are adding nothing to
the sum of civilization. We can make little contribution
to the welfare of humanity on the theory that we are a
superior people and all others are an inferior people. We
do not need to be too loud in the assertion of our own right-
eousness. It is true that we live under most favorable cir-
cumstances. But before we come to the final and irrevoca-
ble decision that we are better than everybody else we need
to consider what we might do if we had their provocations
and their difficulties. We are not likely to improve our own
condition or help humanity very much until we come to
the sympathetic understanding that human nature is about
the same everywhere, that it is rather evenly distributed
over the surface of the earth, and that we are all united in
a common brotherhood. We can only make America first
in the true sense which that means by cultivating a spirit
of friendship and good will, by the exercise of the virtues of
patience and forbearance, by being "plenteous in mercy,"
and- through progress at home and helpfulness abroad stand-
ing as an example of real service to humanity.

It is for these reasons that it seems clear that the results
of the war will be lost and we shall only be entering a period
of preparation for another conflict unless we can demobilize
the racial antagonisms, fears, hatreds, and suspicions, and
create an attitude of toleration in the public mind of the
peoples of the earth. If our country is to have any position
of leadership, I trust it may be in that direction, and I be-
lieve that the place where it should begin is at home. Let
us cast off our hatreds. Let us candidly accept our treaties
and our natural obligations of peace. We know and every-

TOLERATION AND LIBERALISM 301

one knows that these old systems, antagonisms, and reli-
ance on force have failed. If the world has made any prog-
ress, it has been the result of the development of other
ideals. If we are to maintain and perfect our own civiliza-
tion, if we are to be of any benefit to the rest of mankind,
we must turn aside from the thoughts of destruction and
cultivate the thoughts of construction. We can not place
our main reliance upon material forces. We must reaffirm
and reinforce our ancient faith in truth and justice, in
charitableness and tolerance. We must make our supreme
commitment to the everlasting spiritual forces of life. We
must mobilize the conscience of mankind.

Your gatherings are a living testimony of a determina-
tion to support these principles. It would be impossible
to come into this presence, which is a symbol of more than
300 years of our advancing civilization, which represents
to such a degree the hope of our consecrated living and the i

prayers of our hallowed dead, without a firmer conviction I

of the deep and abiding purpose of our country to live in
accordance with this vision. There have been and will be
lapses and discouragements, surface storms and disturb-
ances. The shallows will murmur, but the deep is still. lj
We shall be made aware of the boisterous and turbulent
forces of evil about us seeking the things which are tem-
poral. But we shall also be made aware of the still small
voice arising from the fireside of every devoted home in
the land seeking the things which are eternal. To such a
country, to such a cause, the American Legion has dedi-
cated itself. Upon this rock you stand for the service of
humanity. Against it no power can prevail.

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XXVIII

The history of relationships among the nations
of the New World has been a continuing story of
effort to substitute the rule of arbitration, of
mediation, of adjudication and confidence, for
the rule of force and war,

II

I
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JOSE DE SAN MARTIN, LATIN AMERICAN

LIBERATOR

Great men belong to humanity. They are the incarna-
tion of the truth. Although they are almost always de-
veloped by local circumstances, in the end their influence
becomes world-wide. It is that which makes appropriate
the rearing of monuments within our own land to those
who have been instrumental in advancing human welfare
in other countries. It is a recognition of a universal stand-
ard of action and a common brotherhood among all men.
We are all servants of the truth.

As I listened to the eloquent and generous words of the I

distinguished ambassador from Argentina, speaking on be- I

half of his Government and people, in presenting this noble
monument of civic virtue and patriotic achievement to the
people of the United States, I was again reminded how
closely parallel have run the lines of experience, how in-
timate have been the spiritual associations, among the
members of the American family of Republics. To the
people of the United States it has been a matter of pride
and gratification that their ancestors were providentially
chosen to initiate the movement for independence in the
New World. If that movement had not started where and
when it did, we may be sure it would have started at some
other place and time, and that at last its results would have
been substantially the same. It was not among the human
possibilities that the communities of these new-found con-
tinents should permanently be maintained as dependencies

At the dedication of a monument to General Jose de San Martin given
by Argentina to the United States, Washington, D. C, October 28, 1925.

305

II

306 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

of the mother states in Europe. We can see now that their
destiny to establish themselves independently was just as
certain as that a patriarchal system of government must
ultimately be displaced by a more progressive form.

It was not possible that these sturdy communities should
merely contribute to the world a distorted reflection from
the light of older states and ancient institutions. The dis-
covery of America to the world was providentially fixed in
a time of spiritual and intellectual awakening. It was an
epoch of new lights and new aspirations, of mighty clashes
between the traditions of the old and the spirit of the new
time. The New World proved a fruitful field for testing
out of new ideas of man's relations both to his Creator and
to his fellow men. In the warming sunshine of such an
opportunity, in the fertility of such a virgin soil, these ex-
periments found that full and fair scope which made pos-
sible their triumphant conclusion.

It may be well to consider for a moment the essential
similarities which marked the experiences of all the new
American communities during their struggles for independ-
ence and later during their trying era of institution build-
ing. By doing this we can better realize that the Ameri-
can contribution could not have been made save from the
soil of a new country. You can not transplant an ancient
and rigid social system to a new country without many and
revolutionary modifications. You can not expect that these
new institutions will have adequate opportunity for devel-
opment unless they grow in the light of human independ-
ence and spiritual liberty.

This realization came early to the great leaders of thought
in all the American countries. So we find that as North
American aspirations produced our Washington, Jefferson,
Adams, Hamilton, and Franklin — so the countries to the
south of us brought forth their Miranda, their Bolivar, their
Hidalgo, their Artigas, their O'Higgins, their Sucre, their

JOSE DE SAN MARTIN 307

Morazan, and finally their San Martin — patriot, statesman,
immortal contributor to the founding of three Republics.
It is to honor the memory of San Martin, and to acclaim
his achievements, that we are gathered to-day.

It was the fortune of our thirteen North American Col-
onies to be first in attaining the fact and recognition of in-
dependence. Deeply appreciating their own high fortune,
the people of the new United States were from the be-
ginning profoundly sympathetic with every movement for
liberty and independence throughout these continents.
And, in this connection, Mr. Ambassador, permit me to
thank you for the generous reference you made a few mo-
ments ago to the services of Henry Clay in the cause of
Pan American freedom. You have reminded us of his
persistent and eloquent pleadings in behalf of the strug-
gling peoples in the other American countries. The high
tribute of Mr. Clay to the State papers produced during
that period by the Latin American leaders was only equaled
by that accorded by the great liberal leaders in England to
the State papers of our Revolutionary period. In express-
ing complete agreement with the estimate placed upon them
by Mr. Clay, I wish to call attention to a happy coincidence
of this occasion. In Mr. Clay's great speech in the House
of Representatives on March 24, 1818, championing the
cause of the South American Republics, he referred in espe-
cially glowing terms to the far-seeing statesmanship of the
Argentine patriot who was then director of the United
Provinces of La Plata. I am sure your excellency will par-
don me an allusion to a relationship which your modesty
has forbidden you to mention. For to me it is a happy and
auspicious circumstance that you, Argentina's ambassador
to our Government, chance to be the grand-nephew of the
wise and courageous statesman, Don Juan Martin Pueyr-
redon, whom Mr. Clay so appropriately eulogized.

On such an occasion as this it is utterly impossible to at-

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308 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

tempt a recounting of the services, in arms and in counsel,
of such a man as Jose de San Martin. Just as so many of
the military figures in the North American struggle for in-
dependence had had European training during the Seven
Years' War, so San Martin had had a varied and useful
experience in the Napoleonic struggles. As George Wash-
ington learned military science on the frontiers of Penn-
sylvania while a youth, so San Martin received his educa-
tion in the European and African wars of Spain a genera-
tion later. And these American soldiers of independence
learned their lessons well. As some distinguished military
critics have described Washington's campaign of Trenton
and Princeton as a military exploit of unparalleled bril-
liancy, so in the annals of the southern wars of independence
others describe San Martin's passage of the Andes with
his little patriot army as a more notable achievement than
the crossing of the Alps by either Hannibal or Napoleon.
I do not pretend to pass on these questions of military or-
ganization and direction ; but I can not refrain from point-
ing out the basic similarity between the strategy of the
North American and the South American revolutionary
epochs. The North American revolutionists chose the great
Washington, citizen of a southern colony, to lead a revolu-
tionary movement that had been begun, and in its early
stages was chiefly sustained by the people of the north.
Likewise, when San Martin was made the supreme mili-
tary leader of Argentina, he saw that the success of Ar-
gentina depended upon strengthening and sustaining the
revolution in Chile and Peru.

But it is not my purpose to-day to attempt to analyze
the military genius of San Martin. For that I refer you
to the writings of men truly capable of giving it an adequate
estimate. He was, like our Washington, one of those seem-
ingly inspired military chieftains who are capable of think-
ing at the same moment of terms of war and of politics,

BfttBB

JOSE DE SAN MARTIN 309

of the battle field and the great human forum. For me
the great significance of San Martin and his deeds and
times lies less in their brilliancy in the moment of accom-
plishment and more in the justifying verdict which a later
time and a riper experience have pronounced upon them.

This is a subject which I believe worthy of greater de-
velopment than my time will permit. We who to-day study
the lessons of modern history possess advantages unknown
to our predecessors of even a few years ago. We see many
things which we could not then have recognized. Thus we
see your South America suddenly lifted to a place of im-
pressive eminence among the grand divisions of the world.
For it stands to-day as the only continent that has escaped
from deep and critical involvement in the most widespread
and terrific struggle that has been waged for the domina-
tion of the destiny of mankind. There is not one among us
here to-day who, having passed the meridian of life, can
not recall the days when our American experiments were
still looked upon throughout a large part of the world as of
doubtful value and dubious success. We recall that the li

sophisticated statesmanship of an older world entertained
profound misgivings as to the ultimate fate of these Ameri-
can Republics. These critics wondered whether with their
liberal and democratic organization these new countries
would prove able to play their full part and emerge secure
and sound from one of the vast periodical convulsions to
which our race has seemed to be inevitably subjected. Now,
I am glad to say, we hear less of such misgivings. The
world has had its test. The institutions of men have been
through their trial. That trial has quite definitely answered
the questionings of pessimism. It has provided us with
much specific information by which we may judge for our-
selves whether the institutions of a republican New World
or of a monarchial Old World were best adapted as conser-
vators of human happiness and human progress. We are

I

310 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

content to leave the final verdict to history. The republi-
can peoples of the Americas are prepared to take their
chance on that judgment.

It was no mere accident or coincidence that saved the
countries of South America from a far more intimate and
disastrous connection with the recent world convulsion.
Whoever has given even casual consideration to the past
century's evolution of international relationships in that
continent must recognize that not only its aspirations but
its practical working processes for dealing with difficult is-
sues between nations have steadily tended toward the insur-
ing of peace. They have looked to the substitution of reason
for force. They have repeatedly recognized, in the most
practical fashion and difficult circumstances, that even issues
of vital interest to the national welfare may be determined
to the advantage of all concerned without resort to hos-
tilities. Such problems as international boundary disputes
involving sovereignty over great areas and populations have
been settled through arbitrations or adjudications time and
again. And these settlements have been followed by dem-
onstrations of good will and mutual confidence, where war,
no matter what its verdict, would surely have added to the
exasperations of both parties and left a heritage of that
mutual distrust which so commonly is responsible for in-
creased armaments and future wars. I do not pretend to
controvert the facts of history by denying that South
America has had its share of international wars. I am
seeking merely to call attention to the fact that there would
have been more wars, and more disastrous pnes, but for the
fact that South American statesmanship has on the whole
been dominated by an earnest and increasingly successful
purpose to devise and adopt a variety of methods for avoid-
ance of armed conflict. The will to peace has been present,
even though the way to it was not always open.

The present occasion naturally brings some reflections

JOSE DE SAN MARTIN 311

upon the workings of the republican system that for a well-
rounded century has prevailed throughout the greater part
of the Americas. If we will go back over a century of the
New World's history, we will find many evidences that these
American institutions have peculiarly lent themselves to
the support of those fundamental international efforts
which look to the maintenance of peace and the prevention
of war. It is almost precisely a century since the first Pan
American conference was held at Panama City. Its ac-
complishments did not seem impressive, but even at that
it was well remembered as a fine and hopeful gesture. It
was seen as an invitation to understanding, to cooperation,
and to sincere effort at maintaining peace on this side of
the Atlantic.

From that day to this the history of relationships among
the nations of the New World has been a continuing story
of effort to substitute the rule of arbitration, of mediation,
of adjudicating and confidence, for the rule of force and
war. To the scholarly statesmanship of the Latin Ameri-
can nations the world owes a debt which it has been too
tardy in acknowledging. The truth is that they have dem-
onstrated a peculiar genius in the realm of international
accommodation and accord. The high and humane doc-
trines of international relationship which were expounded
by such men as Calvo, Drago, Alvarez, Bello, Ruy Barbosa,
Rio Branco, and a long list of others are now recognized
universally. The record of arbitrations, mediations, and
adjudications among the Latin American countries consti-
tutes one of the fairest pages in a century's story of man-
kind's effort to eliminate the causes of war. Among their
international treaties we will find models of effective cove-
nants for the limitation of armament and the prevention
of strife in arms.

The present is a time when men and nations are all giving
heed to the voice which pleads for peace. Everywhere they

312 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

are yearning as never before for a leadership that will direct
them into the inviting paths of progress, prosperity, and
genuine fellowship. A clearer vision has shown them not
alone the horrors but the terrible futility of war. In such
a time as this, they will do well to turn their thoughts
in all sincerity to these lessons from the statesmanship, the
experience, and the constant aspiration of the South Ameri-
can nations. The continent which of all the world has
known less of war and more of peace than any other through
this trying period is well entitled to pride in the service
it has rendered to its own people and in the example which
it has set before the rest of mankind.

So the present occasion has appealed to me not merely
as appropriate for the exchange of the ordinary felicita-
tions but as one on which these contributions of Latin
America in moral and intellectual leadership might be given
something of the recognition they have deserved. It is not
possible to do more than suggest the subject. But even
so fragmentary an allusion to such an inviting field, I hope
may serve a useful purpose. It would be worth the effort
of men and women who seek means of preventing wars and
reducing armaments to study the experiences of the Ameri-
can Republics. I commend them to the close attention of
all who would like to see peace as nearly as possible as-
sured and war as far as possible outlawed from the earth.

Among the leaders whose courage and genius brought
realization of the New World's dream of liberty with inde-
pendence, none was moved by a deeper horror of war than
San Martin. None among his colleagues would give more
ardent approval than he to the work of later statesmen
who had a vision of a continent dedicated to peace and the
true welfare of its people. To his sagacity, more than
that of any other man, is due the distribution of the South
American Continent within its present national lines, be-
cause he possessed the foresight of the statesman along with

JOSE DE SAN MARTIN 313

the qualities of the brilliant soldier and the eager patriot.
As has happened too often to the foremost benefactors
of their fellowmen, San Martin was denied during his own
life those testimonies of gratitude and reverence which
other times and all peoples have been proud to shower
upon his memory. I have been told that monuments to him
have been dedicated in almost all the capitals of South
America. To-day the country which gave him to the cause
of freedom is presenting to the Government of my own
Nation this statue of him. It is a welcome duty which
comes to me, in behalf of the Government and people
of the United States, to express their pleasure in accepting
it. May it stand through the centuries as an inspiration to
all who love liberty. May it ever be an added reminder
of the fellowship between the great nation which gives and
that which is honored to receive it. May it serve to keep
in the minds and hearts of all humankind the realization of
the noble and honored place which is held by that repub-
lican system of the New World, of which he was one of
the foremost creators.

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XXIX

True business represents the mutual organized
effort of society to minister to the economic re-
quirements of civilization. It is an effort by
which men provide for the material needs of each
other. While it is not an end in itself, it is the
important means for the attainment of a su-
preme end. It rests squarely on the law of serv-
ice. It has for its main reliance truth and faith
and justice. In its larger sense it is one of the
greatest contributing forces to the moral and
spiritual advancement of the race.

in
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GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS

This time and place naturally suggest some considera-
tion of commerce in its relation to Government and society.
We are finishing a year which can justly be said to surpass
all others in the overwhelming success of general business.
We are met not only in the greatest American metropolis,
but in the greatest center of population and business that
the world has ever known. If any one wishes to gauge the
power which is represented by the genius of the American
spirit, let him contemplate the wonders which have been
wrought in this region in the short space of 200 years. Not
only does it stand unequaled by any other place on earth,
but it is impossible to conceive of any other place where
it could be equaled.

The foundation of this enormous development rests upon
commerce. New York is an imperial city, but it is not a
seat of government. The empire over which it rules is not
political, but commercial. The great cities of the ancient
world were the seats of both government and industrial
power. The Middle Ages furnished a few exceptions. The
great capitals of former times were not only seats of gov-
ernment but they actually governed. In the modern world
government is inclined to be merely a tenant of the city.
Political life and industrial life flow on side by side, but
practically separated from each other. When we contem-
plate the enormous power, autocratic and uncontrolled,
which would have been created by joining the authority of
government with the influence of business, we can better

Address before the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York,
New York City, November 19, 1925.

317

318 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

appreciate the wisdom of the fathers in their wise dispensa-
tion which made Washington the political center of the
country and left New York to develop into its business
center. They wrought mightily for freedom.

The great advantages of this arrangement seem to me to
be obvious. The only disadvantages which appear lie in
the possibility that otherwise business and government
might have had a better understanding of each other and
been less likely to develop mutual misapprehensions and
suspicions. If a contest could be held to determine how
much those who are really prominent in our government
life know about business, and how much those who are
really prominent in our business life know about govern-
ment, it is my firm conviction that the prize would be
awarded to those who are in government life. This is as it
ought to be, for those who have the greater authority ought
to have the greater knowledge. But it is my even firmer
conviction that the general welfare of our country could
be very much advanced through a better knowledge by
both of those parties of the multifold problems with which
each has to deal. While our system gives an opportunity
for great benefit by encouraging detachment and breadth of
vision which ought not to be sacrificed, it does not have
the advantages which could be secured if each had a better
conception of their mutual requirements.

While I have spoken of what I believed would be the
advantages of a more sympathetic understanding, I should
put an even stronger emphasis on the desirability of the
largest possible independence between 'government and
business. Each ought to be sovereign in its own sphere.
When government comes unduly under the influence of
business, the tendency is to develop an administration
which closes the door of opportunity; becomes narrow and
selfish in its outlook, and results in an oligarchy. When
government enters the field of business with its great re-

^

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 319

sources, it has a tendency to extravagance and inefficiency,
but, having the power to crush all competitors, likewise
closes the door of opportunity and results in monopoly. It
is always a problem in a republic to maintain on the one
side that efficiency which comes only from trained and
skillful management without running into fossilization and
autocracy, and to maintain on the other that equality of
opportunity which is the result of political and economic
liberty without running into dissolution and anarchy. The
general results in our country, our freedom and prosperity,
warrant the assertion that our system of institutions has
been advancing in the right direction in the attempt to solve
these problems. We have order, opportunity, wealth, and
progress.

While there has been in the past and will be in the future
a considerable effort in this country of different business
interests to attempt to run the Government in such a way
as to set up a system of privilege, and while there have
been and will be those who are constantly seeking to com-
mit the Government to a policy of infringing upon the
domain of private business, both of these efforts have been
very largely discredited, and with reasonable vigilance on
the part of the people to preserve their freedom do not now
appear to be dangerous.

When I have been referring to business, I have used the
word in its all-inclusive sense to denote alike the employer
and employee, the production of agriculture and industry,
the distribution of transportation and commerce, and the
service of finance and banking. It is the work of the
world. In modern life, with all its intricacies, business has
come to hold a very dominant position in the thoughts of
all enlightened peoples. Rightly understood, this is not a
criticism, but a compliment. In its great economic organ-
ization it does not represent, as some have hastily concluded,
a mere desire to minister to selfishness. The New York

320 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Chamber of Commerce is not made up of men merely ani-
mated with a purpose to get the better of each other. It
is something far more important than a sordid desire for
gain. It could not successively succeed on that basis. It
is dominated by a more worthy impulse; its rests on a
higher law. True business represents the mutual organ-
ized effort of society to minister to the economic require-
ments of civilization. It is an effort by which men provide
for the material needs of each other. While it is not an
end in itself, it is the important means for the attainment
of a supreme end. It rests squarely on the law of service.
It has for its main reliance truth and faith and justice. In
its larger sense it is one of the greatest contributing forces
to the moral and spiritual advancement of the race.

It is the important and righteous position that business
holds in relation to life which gives warrant to the great
interest which the National Government constantly exer-
cises for the promotion of its success. This is not exercised
as has been the autocratic practice abroad of directly sup-
porting and financing different business projects, except in
case of great emergency ; but we have rather held to a demo-
cratic policy of cherishing the general structure of busi-
ness while holding its avenues open to the widest competi-
tion, in order that its opportunities and its benefits might
be given the broadest possible participation. While it is
true that the Government ought not to be and is not com-
mitted to certain methods of acquisition which, while par-
taking of the nature of unfair practices, try to masquerade
under the guise of business, the Government is and ought
to be thoroughly committed to every endeavor of produc-
tion and distribution which is entitled to be designated as
true business. Those who are so engaged, instead of re-
garding the Government as their opponent and enemy,
ought to regard it as their vigilant supporter and friend.

It is only in exceptional instances that this means a

ktixra

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 321

change on the part of the national administration so much
as it means a change on the part of trade. Except for the
requirements of safety, health and taxation, the law enters
very little into the work of production. It is mostly when
we come to the problems of distribution that we meet the
more rigid exactions of legislation. The main reason why
certain practices in this direction have been denounced is
because they are a species of unfair competition on the one
hand or tend to monopoly and restraint of trade on the
other. The whole policy of the Government in its system
of opposition to monopoly, and its public regulation of
transportation and trade, has been animated by a desire
to have business remain business. We are politically free
people and must be an economically free people.

It is my belief that the whole material development of
our country has been enormously stimulated by reason of
the general insistence on the part of the public authorities
that economic effort ought not to partake of privilege, and
that business should be unhampered and free. This could
never have been done under a system of freight-rate dis-
criminations or monopolistic trade associations. These
might have enriched a few for a limited period, but they
never would have enriched the country, while on the firmer
foundation of justice we have achieved even more ample
individual fortunes and a perfectly unprecedented era of
general prosperity. This has resulted in no small part from
the general acceptance on the part of those who own and
control the wealth of the Nation, that it is to be used not
to oppress but to serve. It is that policy, sometimes per-
haps imperfectly expressed and clumsily administered, that
has animated the National Government. In its observ-
ance there is unlimited opportunity for progress and pros-
perity.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to estimate the
contribution which government makes to business. It is

322 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

notorious that where the government is bad, business is
bad. The mere fundamental precepts of the administration
of justice, the providing of order and security, are price-
less. The prime element in the value of all property is
the knowledge that its peaceful enjoyment will be publicly
defended. If disorder should break out in your city, if
there should be a conviction extending over any length of
time that the rights of persons and property could no longer
be protected by law, the value of your tall buildings would
shrink to about the price of what are now water fronts of
old Carthage or what are now corner lots in ancient Baby-
lon. It is really the extension of these fundamental rights
that the Government is constantly attempting to apply to
modern business. It wants its rightful possessors to rest
in security, it wants any wrongs that they may suffer to
have a legal remedy, and it is all the time striving through
administrative machinery to prevent in advance the in-
fliction of injustice.

These undoubtedly represent policies which are wise
and sound and necessary. That they have often been mis-
applied and many times run into excesses, nobody can
deny. Regulation has often become restriction, and in-
spection has too frequently been little less than obstruc-
tion. This was the natural result of those times in the
past when there were practices in business which warranted
severe disapprobation. It was only natural that when these
abuses were reformed by an aroused public opinion a great
deal of prejudice which ought to have been discriminating
and directed only at certain evil practices came to include
almost the whole domain of business, especially where it
had been gathered into large units. After the abuses had
been discontinued the prejudice remained to produce a
large amount of legislation, which, however well meant in
its application to trade, undoubtedly hampered but did not
improve. It is this misconception and misapplication, dis-

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 323

turbing and wasteful in their results, which the National
Government is attempting to avoid. Proper regulation and
control are disagreeable and expensive. They represent the
suffering that the just must endure because of the unjust.
They are a part of the price which must be paid to pro-
mote the cause of economic justice.

Undoubtedly if public vigilance were relaxed, the genera-
tion to come might suffer a relapse. But the present gen-
eration of business almost universally throughout its re-
sponsible organization and management has shown every
disposition to correct its own abuses with as little inter-
vention of the Government as possible. This position is
recognized by the public, and due to the appreciation of
the needs which the country has for great units of produc-
tion in time of war, and to the better understanding of the
service which they perform in time of peace, resulting very
largely from the discussion of our tax problems, a new atti-
tude of the public mind is distinctly discernible toward
great aggregations of capital. Their prosperity goes very
far to insure the prosperity of all the country. The con-
tending elements have each learned a most profitable lesson.

This development has left the Government free to ad-
vance from the problems of reform and repression to those
of economy and construction. A very large progress is be-
ing made in these directions. Our country is in a state of
unexampled and apparently sound and well distributed
prosperity. It did not gain wealth, as some might hastily
conclude, as a result of the war. Here and there individuals
may have profited greatly, but the country as a whole was
a heavy loser. Forty billions of the wealth of the Nation
was directly exhausted, while the indirect expenditure and
depreciation can not be estimated. The Government ap-
preciated that the only method of regeneration lay in
economy and production. It has followed a policy of econ-
omy in national expenditures. By an enormous reduction

324 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

in taxation it has released great amounts of capital for use
in productive effort. It has sought to stimulate domestic
production by a moderate application of the system of pro-
tective tariff duties. The results of these efforts are known
to all the world.

Another phase of this progress is not so well understood,
but upon its continuance depends our future ability to meet
the competition of the lower standards of living in foreign
countries. During the past five years the Department of
Commerce has unceasingly directed attention to the neces-
sity for the elimination of waste. This effort has been
directed toward better cooperation to improve efficiency
in the use of labor and materials in all branches of business.
This has been sought by the necessary cooperative action
among individual concerns within industrial groups, and
between producers and consumers. This does not imply
any diminution of fair competition or any violation of the
laws against restraint of trade. In fact, these proposals
have been a protection to the smaller units of business and
a most valuable asset alike to the producer, wage earner
and consumer.

The result of the realization of these wastes and the large
cooperative effort that has been instituted in the community
to cure them, whether with the assistance of the Govern-
ment departments or by independent action of the groups,
has been the most profound factor in this recovery made
in the past five years. There can be no question that great
wastes have been eliminated by these activities in the busi-
ness community through such actions as the abolition of
car shortages; by improved equipment and methods of
management of our railways ; the cooperation with shippers
to save delays; the remarkable advance in electrification of
the country with all of its economies in labor and coal ; the
provision of better economic and statistical information as
to production, stocks, and consumption of all commodities

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 325

in order that producers and consumers may better adjust
supply to demand, thereby eliminating speculation and
loss; the great progress made in the technology of stand-
ardizing quality and dimensions in heavy manufactured
products like building materials and commodities generally
which do not involve problems of style or individuality; the
reduction of seasonal employment in the construction and
other industries and of losses through fire and through
traffic accidents; advancement of commercial arbitration;
development of farmers' cooperatives for the more eco-
nomical and stable marketing of farm produce; and in
general the elimination of waste due to lost motion and
material throughout our whole economic fabric.

All this represents a movement as important as that of
twenty years ago for the regulation of corporations and con-
servation of our natural resources. This effort for conser-
vation of use of materials and conservation of energy in
which our whole country has engaged during these five
years has been in no small part responsible for the rich re-
ward in the increasing comfort and living standards of the
people. But in addition to bringing about a condition in
which the Government debt is being rapidly liquidated
while at the same time taxes are greatly reduced, capital
has become abundant and prosperity reigns. The most re-
markable results of economy and the elimination of waste
are shown in the wage and commodity indexes. In 1920
wages were about 100 per cent above the pre-war rates and
the average wholesale price of commodities was about 120
per cent above the pre-war rates. A steady increase in the
wage index took place, so that during the last year it was
120 per cent above the pre-war rate. As the cost of our
production is so largely a matter of wages, and as tax re-
turns show that for the last year profits were ample, it
would naturally have been expected that the prices of com-
modities would have increased. Yet during this period the

326 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

average wholesale price level of commodities declined from
120 per cent above the pre-war level that it was in 1920,
to only 57 per cent above the pre-war level in 1925. Thus,
as a result of greater economy and efficiency, and the elim-
ination of waste in the conduct of the National Govern-
ment and of the business of the country, prices went down
while wages went up. The wage earner receives more,
while the dollar of the consumer will purchase more. The
significance and importance of this result can not be over-
estimated.

This is real and solid progress. No one can deny that it
represents an increase in national efficiency. It must be
maintained. Great as the accomplishments have been,
they are yet but partly completed. We need further im-
provement in transportation facilities by development of
inland waterways; we need railroad consolidations; we
need further improvement of our railway terminals for
more economical distribution of commodities in the great
congested centers; we need reorganization of Government
departments; we need still larger extension of electrifica-
tion; in general, we need still further effort against all the
various categories of waste which the Department of Com-
merce has enumerated and so actively attacked, for in this
direction lies not only increased economic progress but the
maintenance of that progress against foreign competition.
There is still plenty of work for business to do.

By these wise policies, pursued with tremendous eco-
nomic effort, our country has reached its present prosper-
ous condition. The people have been willing to work be-
cause they have had something to work for. The per capita
production has greatly increased. Out of our surplus sav-
ings we have been able to advance great sums for re-
financing the Old World and developing the New. While
Europe has attracted more public attention, Latin America,
Japan, and even Australia, have been very large participa-

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 327

i

tors in these loans. If rightly directed, they ought to be of

benefit to both lender and borrower. If used to establish
industry and support commerce abroad, through adding to
the wealth and productive capacity of those countries, they
create their own security and increase consuming power
to the probable advantage of our trade. But when used in
ways that are not productive, like the maintenance of great
military establishments or to meet municipal expenditures
which should either be eliminated by government economy
or supplied by taxation, they do not appear to serve a useful
purpose and ought to be discouraged. Our bankers have a
great deal of responsibility in relation to the soundness of
these loans when they undertake to invest the savings of
our country abroad. I should regret very much to see our
possession of resources which are available to meet needs in
other countries be the cause of any sentiment of envy or
unfriendliness toward us. It ought everywhere to be wel-
comed with rejoicing and considered as a part of the good
fortune of the entire world that such an economic reservoir
exists here which can be made available in case of need.

Everyone knows that it was our resources that saved
Europe from a complete collapse immediately following the
armistice. Without the benefit of our credit an appalling
famine would have prevailed over great areas. In accord-
ance with the light of all past history, disorder and revolu-
tion, with the utter breaking, down of all legal restraints
and the loosing of all the passions which had been aroused
by four years of conflict, would have rapidly followed.
Others did what they could, and no doubt made larger
proportionate sacrifices, but it was the credits and food
which we supplied that saved the situation.

When the work of restoring the fiscal condition of Eu-
rope began, it was accomplished again with our assistance.
When Austria determined to put her financial house in
order, we furnished a part of the capital. When Germany

328 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

sought to establish a sound fiscal condition, we again con-
tributed a large proportion of the necessary gold loan.
Without this, the reparations plan would have utterly failed.
Germany could not otherwise have paid. The armies of
occupation would have gone on increasing international
irritation and ill will. It was our large guarantee of credit
that assisted Great Britain to return to a gold basis. What
we have done for France, Italy, Belgium, Czechoslovakia,
Poland, and other countries, is all a piece of the same en-
deavor. These efforts and accomplishments, whether they
be appreciated at home or received with gratitude abroad,
which have been brought about by the business interests of
our country, constitute an enormous world service. Others
have made plans and adopted agreements for future action
which hold a rank of great importance. But when we
come to the consideration of what has been done, when we
turn aside from what has been promised, to examine what
has been performed, no positive and constructive accom-
plishment of the past five years compares with the support
which America has contributed to the financial stability of
the world. It clearly marks a new epoch.

This holds a distinctly higher rank than a mere barter
and sale. It reaches above the ordinary business transac-
tion into a broader realm. America has disbanded her
huge armies and reduced her powerful fleet, but in at-
tempting to deal justly through the sharing of our financial
resources we have done more for peace than we could have
done with all our military power. Peace, we know, rests
to a great extent upon justice, but it is very difficult for
the public mind to divorce justice from economic oppor-
tunity. The problem for which we have been attempting
a solution is in the first instance to place the people of the
earth back into avenues of profitable employment. It
was necessary to restore hope, to renew courage. A great
contribution to this end has been made with American

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 329

money. The work is not all done yet. No doubt it will
develop that this has not been accomplished without some
mistakes, but the important fact remains that when the
world needed to be revived we did respond. As nations see
their way to a safer economic existence, they will see their
way to a more peaceful existence. Possessed of the means
to meet personal and public obligations, people are re-
establishing their self-respect. The financial strength of
America has contributed to the spiritual restoration of the
world. It has risen into the domain of true business.

Accompanying these efforts to assist in rehabilitation
have lately come the negotiations for the settlement of our
foreign debts. Ten nations have already made settlements
for $6,383,411,669 of these debts, exclusive of accrued in-
terest. The principal sums and interest which have been
funded and are to be paid to the United States aggregate
$15,056,486,000. There remain nine nations, with debts
in the principal amount of $3,673,342,362, which have not
yet been settled. Of the nine nations, France represents
$3,340,000,000, Greece $15,000,000, and Yugoslavia $51,-
000,000. Of the remaining six, Rumania is now negotiat-
ing a settlement, Nicaragua is paying currently, and a mora-
torium for twenty years has been granted Austria by act of
Congress. Armenia has ceased to exist as a nation, the
Government of Russia has not been recognized, and Liberia
owes but $26,000.

It has been the belief of the Government that no per-
manent stabilization of European finances and European
currency can be accomplished without a definite adjustment
of these obligations. While we realize that it is for our
advantage to have these debts paid, it is also realized
that it is greatly for the advantage of our debtors to have
them finally liquidated. We created these values and sent
them abroad in a period of about two years. We are extend-
ing the time for their return over a term of sixty-two years.

330 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

While settlements already made and ratified by Congress,
and those which will be presented for ratification, are very
generous, I believe they will be alike beneficial to ourselves
and the countries concerned. They maintain the principle
of the integrity of international obligations. They help
foreign governments to reestablish their fiscal operations
and will contribute to the economic recovery of their people.
They will assist both in the continuance of friendly rela-
tions, which are always jeopardized by unsettled differences,
and the mutual improvement of trade opportunities by in-
creasing the prosperity of the countries involved.

The working out of these problems of regulation, Govern-
ment economy, the elimination of waste in the use of hu-
man effort and of materials, conservation and the proper
investment of our savings both at home and abroad, is all
a part of the mighty task which was imposed upon man-
kind of subduing the earth. America must either perform
her full share in the accomplishment of this great world
destiny or fail. For almost three centuries we were intent
upon our domestic development. We sought the help of
the people and the wealth of other lands by which to in-
crease our numerical strength and augment our national
fortune. We have grown exceedingly great in population
and in riches. This power and this prosperity we can con-
tinue for ourselves if we will but proceed with moderation.
If our people will but use those resources which have been
intrusted to them, whether of command over large num-
bers of men or of command over large investments of cap-
ital, not selfishly but generously, not to exploit others but
to serve others, there will be no doubt of an increasing pro-
duction and distribution of wealth.

All of these efforts represent the processes of reducing
our domestic and foreign relations to a system of law.
They consist of a determination of clear and definite rules
of action. It is a civilizing and humanizing method adopted

^MMM

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 331

by means of conference, discussion, deliberation, and deter-
mination. If it is to have any continuing success, or any
permanent value, it will be because it has not been brought
about by one will compelling another by force, but has re-
sulted from men reasoning together. It has sought to re-
move compulsion from the business life of the country and
from our relationship with other nations. It has sought to
bestow a greater freedom upon our own people and upon
the people of the world. We have worshiped the ideals of
force long enough. We have turned to worship at the true
shrine of understanding and reason.

In our domestic affairs we have adopted practical methods
for the accomplishment of our ideals. We have translated
our aspirations into appropriate actions. We have followed
the declaration that we believe in justice, by establishing
tribunals that would insure the administration of justice.
What we have been able to do in this respect in relation
to the different States of our Union, we ought to encourage
and support in its proper application in relation to the dif-
ferent nations of the world. With our already enormous
and constantly increasing interests abroad, there are con-
stantly accumulating reasons why we should signify our
adherence to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Mindful of our determination to avoid all interference in
the political affairs, which do not concern us, of other na-
tions, I can think of no more reassuring action than the
declaration of America that it will whole-heartedly join
with others in the support of the tribunal for the admin-
istration of international justice which they have created.
I can conceive of nothing that we could do, which involves
assuming so few obligations on our part, that would be
likely to prove of so much value to the world. Beyond its
practical effect, which might be somewhat small, it would
have a sentimental effect which would be tremendous. It
would be public notice that the enormous influences of our

332 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

country were to be cast upon the side of the enlightening
processes of civilization. It would be the beginning of a
new world spirit.

This is the land of George Washington. We can do no
less than work toward the realization of his hope. It ought
to be our ambition to see the institutions which he founded
grow in the blessings which they bestow upon our own
citizens and increase in the good which their influence
casts upon all the world. He did not hesitate to meet peril
or encounter danger or make sacrifices. There is no cause
which can be supported by any other methods. We can
not listen to the counsels of perfection ; we can not pursue
a timorous policy; we can not avoid the obligations of a
common humanity. We must meet our perils; we must
encounter our dangers ; we must make our sacrifices ; or his-
tory will recount that the works of Washington have failed.
I do not believe the future is to be dismayed by that rec-
ord. The truth and faith and justice of the ancient days
have not departed from us.

UQQtt

XXX

America is not without a true nobility, but it is
not supported by privilege. It rests on worth.

THE FARMER AND THE NATION

No one can travel across the vast area that lies between
the Alleghenies and the Rockies without being thoroughly
impressed with the enormous expansion of American agri-
culture. Other sections of our country, acre for acre, are
just as important and just as productive, but it is in this
region that the cultivation of the land holds its most domi-
nant position. It is to serve the farmers of this great open
country that teeming cities have arisen, great stretches of
navigation have been opened, a mighty network of railways
has been constructed, a fast increasing mileage of highways
has been laid out, and modern inventions have stretched
their lines of communication among all the various com-
munities and into nearly every home. Agriculture holds
a position in this country that it was never before able to
secure anywhere else on earth.

It is the development which has taken place within this
area, mostly within the last seventy-five years, which has
given agriculture a new standing in the world. By bringing
the tillage of the soil under a new technique it has given to
the people on the farm a new relationship to commerce, in-
dustry, and society. The ownership of land has always been
a mark of privilege and distinction, but in other times and
places the laborious effort of farming, the hard work of
cultivating the soil — which was done almost entirely by
hand — the comparative isolation of rural existence, was
traditionally an unattractive life assigned to the serf and
the uncultured peasant. It still partakes of that nature in

Address before the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau
Federation, Chicago, 111., December 7, 1925.

335

336 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

most countries. But in America the farm has long since
ceased to be associated with a mode of life that could be
called rustic. It has become a great industrial enterprise,
requiring a broad knowledge in its management, a technical
skill in its labor, intricate machinery in its processes, and
trained merchandising in its marketings. Agriculture in
America has been raised to the rank of a profession. It
does not draw any artificial support from industry or from
the Government. It rests squarely on a foundation of its
own. It is independent.

The place which agriculture holds to-day in this country,
superior to that which it ever held before in time of peace
in this or any other land, is by reason of its very eminence
one of increasing exactions and difficulties. It does not re-
quire much talent or any great foresight to live on an in-
ferior scale, limited and impoverished, nor does it evoke
much eulogy, but to maintain freedom and independence,
to rise in the economic scale to the ownership and profitable
management of a great property amid all the perils of our
competitive life, requires a high degree of industry and
ability. Those who achieve that position in a community
will always be entitled to the highest commendation. What-
ever other obstacles the American people have had to meet
and overcome, of every station in life, they have never
permitted themselves to be hampered by a condition of de-
pendence. As what they have had was secured not by
favor or by bounty, but by their own efforts, no one else
has had any power to deprive them of it. Unencumbered
by any special artificial support, they have -stood secure on
their own foundation. America is not without a true no-
bility, but it is not supported by urivilege. It rests on
worth.

It is our farm life that is particularly representative of
this standard of American citizenship. It is made up of
many different types and races; it includes many different

u

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 337

modes of thought and living. Stretching from the North,
with its months of frost, to the Gulf, with its perpetual
summer, it embraces a wide variety of production. But it is
all a partaker of the same high measure of achievement and
character. It rises in its importance above the products of
the land and puts a stamp of its own upon the quality of our
people. It is not merely for a supply of food that we look
to the farms, but as a never-failing source, if others be-
come exhausted, from which we can always replenish the
manhood and womanhood of the Nation. It is for this
reason that our whole country entertains the greatest solici-
tude for the welfare of the people who make up our agri-
cultural population. The importance of their continued
success and progress can not be overestimated. It affects
not only the material prosperity but reaches beyond that
into the moral and spiritual life of America.

It was the people of this stamp and character who were
mainly instrumental in founding American institutions. It
was well on into the nineteenth century before the great
industrial development of our country began. In the old
days there were some professional men and there were the
clergy who exercised in a high degree an inspired leadership
not only in the religious and educational, but to a marked
extent in the political, life of their day. But the people
were of the farm. Their living came from the soil. Their
sturdy industry, their determination to be free, resulted in
no small part from their occupation and mode of life.
Wherever there is a farm, there is the greatest opportunity
for a true home. It was the loyalty and perseverance bred
of the home life of the American farmer that supported
Washington through seven years of conflict and provided
the necessary self-restraint to translate his victory into the
abiding institutions of freedom. It is the spirit of those
homes that our country must forever cherish.

But the gratitude of America, and I think of the whole

338 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

world, is due not only to "the embattled farmers" who stood
at Concord bridge and "fired the shot heard round the
world/' but to those tillers of the soil of the great prairie
States, prophets and pioneers of freedom, who rose to
power in time to make it possible for Lincoln to save the
Union, and also to the informed, improved, and well-
equipped agriculture of our own day, which, while giving
generously of their own manhood and womanhood, put forth
those stupendous efforts which provided food, cotton, wool,
and other materials that turned the tide for the cause of
liberty in the Great War. It is the existence of this su-
perb power, both of resources and of people, which has its
home in the great open country, that has made possible not
only the independence and freedom of our own land and the
extension of liberty throughout the world, but has furnished
the foundation on which has been built the great expansion
in the industrial and commercial life of the Nation. Our
statesmanship can be dedicated to no more worthy purpose
than the perpetuation of this high standard of American
farm life.

All of these results would appear to lead to the inevitable
conclusion that to a very large extent the underlying sup-
port to the strength and character and greatness of America
has been furnished by the strength and character and great-
ness of its agriculture. Our country has been developed
under the influence of a new spirit. In the early beginnings
of organized society the main form of wealth which was
plentiful consisted of land. It was almost the sole source
of production. Always in theory, and usually in practice,
all land belonged to the Crown. It was the custom for the
ruler to bestow upon his retainers not only landed estates,
but to provide in addition the serfs who were attached to
the soil, in order that they might supply the necessary
labor for its productivity. The workers in the field were
held in servitude, while their masters usually lived many

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 339

miles from the land, sometimes in their castles, sometimes in
towns and cities. This was the established condition all
over the Old World. The position of the country thus be-
came stationary. It was in the cities and towns, where
opportunity came for exchange of ideas and educational
advancement, that there started that progress toward free-
dom and self-government which marked the beginning of
the modern age. The importance of the cities and towns
became predominant. Even after freedom was granted to
the serfs, the tillers of the soil never became a great in-
fluence. Their interests were always subordinated to the
stronger, more aggressive life of the industrial population
and of the ruling classes.

But America never fully came under this blighting in-
fluence. It was a different type of individual that formed
the great bulk of our early settlers. They gained their
livelihood by cultivating the soil, but there was no large
and overmastering city or industrial population. The ex-
pansion of our country down to almost as late as 1880 was
an agricultural expansion. A large majority of our in-
habitants were engaged in that occupation. They not
only tilled the soil, but they owned it. They not only
directed the Government, but they made it. The fertile
lands and generous homestead laws under American insti-
tutions all worked together to produce an entirely new posi-
tion of place and power for agriculture. When there was
added to this the marvelous inventions of farm machinery
which have come into modern life, it made it possible to
establish here the first agricultural empire which did not
rest upon an oppressed peasantry. This was a stupendous
achievement.

Following this came the vast business growth which
brought great changes. The town and industrial popula-
tion for the first time began to exceed that of the farms.
From the surplus of food products requiring foreign markets

340 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

we began to reach something like a balance between do-
mestic production and consumption. Before 1910, so wise
a man as James J. Hill expressed the opinion that in the
near future we should be importers of wheat.

Under normal conditions Mr. Hill might have been cor-
rect, but the World War intervened. The. enormous de-
mand from abroad brought the high prices which so stimu-
lated production that it reached a new record in amount
and value. Without this service, famine undoubtedly would
have prevailed over wide areas. This resulted in a great
inflation and in an overproduction, reaching its summit
in 1919, which was followed by the inevitable deflation of

1920 and 1921. The best economic authority tells us this
was inevitable. Whether it was or not, it came. It af-
flicted both agriculture and industry. The values of manu-
facturing plants and their stocks on hand went down, their
orders were canceled, their operations ceased, and the buy-
ing capacity of their wage earners being greatly reduced,
the consumption of food products declined, causing a fall
in prices that reached back to the farm. The resulting
losses have never been fully recovered either in industry or
agriculture, but starting from the low point of 1920 and

1921 both have made progress and from every indication
appear to be entering an era of prosperity.

It has seemed to me desirable to consider thus briefly the
development of our American agriculture, in order that by
a better understanding of the method of its progress and
the position it now holds we may better comprehend its
needs and better estimate what the future promises for it.
Everyone knows that the farmer, who is often least able
to bear it, went through the most drastic deflation. Con-
sidered as a whole, his position has steadily improved since
1921. I do not mean that land values or prices have reached
their former level. That was not to be expected. But I
do mean that, generally speaking, the present business of

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 341

farming as a whole is beginning to be profitable. Of course
there are exceptions to be made of localities, individuals,
and crops. Some people would grow poor on a mountain of
gold, while others would make a good living on a rock. We
can not bend our course to meet the exceptions; we must
treat agriculture as a whole, and if, as a whole, it can be
placed in a prosperous condition the exceptions will tend
to eliminate themselves.

There have been discussions which seem to indicate some
fear that our agriculture is becoming decadent, that it has
already reached its highest point, and that, becoming un-
profitable, it is likely to diminish. Nothing in the appear-
ance of the country or of its people as I have traveled
over it has seemed to indicate any deterioration, nor do I
find anything in the farm census and reports that warrants
this conclusion.

It is true that there is an increasing interchange of popu-
lation between the city and the country. With the coming
of the automobile many of the city people are moving out
into the country, and with the increasing use of machinery
some of those formerly employed on the farm have been
released for employment in the industries. For the past
fifteen years urban population has been increasing, while
farm population and the number of farms have slightly de-
creased. This has reversed the condition that existed be-
fore that period. But this is only a part of the story.

The real question is not the numbers employed but the
amount of production. If that should appear to be inade-
quate to meet our requirements for food and raw materials,
if the morale of the farmers should be breaking down, the
situation might be serious. Such does not appear to be
the fact. In intelligence, in education, in the general stand-
ards of living, farm life was never so well equipped as it is to-
day. In the past forty-five years, which roughly marks our
great industrial development, the index number of produc-

342 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

tion rose from 100 to 237, while that for population is esti-
mated to be but 226. Production has outrun population,
according to the statistics of the Harvard Service. While
the number of farms and people engaged in farming was
slightly less in 1924 than in 1910, production in 1923 and
1924 was 15 per cent greater than in 1910. Fewer people
but more production means each person on the farm will
receive more.

It is not only production, however, but price that is
important to the farmer. The value of his produce for
1924, excluding crops fed to animals, was about $12,136,-
000,000. The estimates for the present year are about the
same. This compares with $3,549,000,000 in 1900. Accord-
ing to estimates, the number of people on farms in 1924
was about 10 per cent greater than in 1900. The amount of
money received was about 350 per cent greater. But as the
general price level of all commodities had greatly advanced,
measured in purchasing power the amount received was
only about 90 per cent greater. This means that 110 per
cent of people engaged in agriculture received 190 per cent
more in 1924 than they did in 1900. While it is true that
there was a great decline in farm prices in 1920 and 1921,
and an even greater decline in the purchasing power of farm
produce compared with other commodities, yet since that
time farm prices have risen more rapidly than other com-
modities, so that the purchasing power of farm produce has
risen also. The tendency appears to be to bring agriculture
as a whole back to the same relative economic position that
it occupied before the war. While general production,
prices, and living conditions on the farm' are improving,
there is little ground for fear that agriculture is becoming
decadent; yet some areas are still depressed; debts and
taxes still remain.

Although it is gratifying to know that farm conditions
as a whole are encouraging, yet we ought not to cease our

kimft

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 343

efforts for their constant improvement. We can not claim
that they have reached perfection anywhere, and in too
many instances there is still much distress. Various sug-
gestions of artificial relief have been made. Production has
been ample, but prices compared with the war era have been
very much reduced, although they are now considerably im-
proved. The proposals made have, therefore, had the pur-
pose of increasing prices.

One of the methods by which this has been sought,
though put forward chiefly as an emergency measure as
I understand from its proponents, was to have corporations
organized through which the Government would directly
or indirectly fix prices or engage in buying and selling farm
produce. This would be a dangerous undertaking, and as
the emergency is not so acute, it seems at present to have
lost much of its support. No matter how it is disguised,
the moment the Government engages in buying and selling,
by that act it is fixing prices. Moreover, it would appar-
ently destroy cooperative associations and all other market-
ing machinery, for no one can compete with the Govern-
ment. Ultimately it would end the independence which the
farmers of this country enjoy as a result of centuries of
struggle and prevent the exercise of their own judgment
and control in cultivating their land and marketing their
produce.

Government control can not be divorced from political
control. The overwhelming interest of the consumer, not
the smaller interest of the producer, would be sure to domi-
nate in the end. I am reliably informed that the secretary
of agriculture of a great foreign power has recently fixed
the wages of farm labor in his country at less than $5 per
week. The government price is not always a high price.
Unless we fix correspoding prices for other commodities,
a high fixed price for agriculture would simply stimulate
overproduction that would end in complete collapse. How-

344 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ever attractive this proposal was at first thought, careful
consideration of it has led to much opposition on the part
of the farmers. They realize that even the United States
Government is not strong enough, either directly or in-
directly, to fix prices which would constantly guarantee
success. They are opposed to submitting themselves to
the control of a great Government bureaucracy. They pre-
fer the sound policy of maintaining their freedom and their
own initiative as individuals, or to limit them only as they
voluntarily form group associations. They do not wish
to put the Government into the farming business.

Others have thought that the tariff rates were unfavor-
able to the farmer. If this should be a fact, it ought to be
corrected. Let us examine our imports. Last year their
gross value was $3,610,000,000, but $2,080,000,000, or 57%0
per cent, came in wholly free of duty. This free list was
constructed especially to favor the farmer, and contains
more than 50 articles which he purchases, like fertilizer,
leather harnesses, farm machinery, coffee, binder twine,
barbed wire, and gasoline.

Of the $1,530,000,000 of goods paying imports, $780,-
000,000 was upon agricultural products, levied solely to
protect the farmer, including animal and dairy products,
grain, flax, wool, sugar, nuts, citrus fruits, and many others.
If any farmer wants to get an accurate and full list of his
products which are protected and his purchases which come
in free, let him go to his public library and consult Official
Document No. 33, comparing the last three tariff acts.
Thus 80 per cent of our imports either come in free or pay
a duty to protect the farmer. This must be further in-
creased by $250,000,000 more of imported luxuries like
diamonds, fine rugs, silks, cut glass, jewelry, and mahogany.
These items can not affect the prosperity of the farmer.
This brings the total of imports up to 88 per cent which
are either free, or luxuries, or protected to help the farmer,

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 345

and leaves only 12 per cent of our imports upon which the
agricultural industry pays any part of the tariff.

But, on the other hand, our industrial and city popula-
tion pays the tariff on the $780,000,000 worth of agricul-
tural imports and also participates in the $500,000,000
worth of imports outside of luxuries. While the farmer
pays part of the duties on 12 per cent of our imports which
do not benefit him, industry and commerce pay part of
the duty on 36 per cent of the imports which do not benefit
them.

But if we take all that the farmer buys for his household
and farm operation and subtract from it articles dutiable
to protect the farmer, the free list, and luxuries, we should
have left less than 10 per cent of his expenditures. This
means that less than 10 per cent of farm purchases are at
an increased cost which is adverse to the farmer. Admitting
that the price of these purchases is increased by the full
amount of the duty, this means that the total adverse cost
to the farmer on account of the tariff is only between 2 per
cent and 3 per cent of his purchases.

Many economists consider that even this calculation as
to the contribution of our farmers to the tariff is overesti-
mated. As their expenditures include many items for labor
and service on which there is no duty, the proportion of
total expenditure on dutiable articles outside the three lists
above mentioned is not 10 per cent, but only 3 per cent or
4 per cent of his total expenditures. Thus, even assuming
that the farmer pays tariff on this ratio of goods, his ex-
penditures would only be increased by one-third of 3 per
cent or 4 per cent, or not over 1% per cent.

On the other side, protection is a great benefit to agri-
culture as a whole. The $780,000,000 of agricultural prod-
uce imported last year had to pay $260,000,000 for the
privilege of coming in to compete with our own farm pro-
duction. If these were admitted free of duty, they would

346 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

no doubt greatly increase in volume, reduce present farm
prices, and result in much lower standards of living on our
farms. We are also exporters as well as importers. Protec-
tion greatly aids diversification and so eliminates an un-
profitable surplus. Under our tariff our flax acreage has
increased from 1,641,000 in 1921 to 3,093,000 in 1925.
Much of this would otherwise have been devoted to wheat,
increasing the surplus and further demoralizing that mar-
ket. The same principle holds in relation to sugar, wool,
and other agricultural products.

It has been thought that protection does not help agri-
cultural products. Any study of dairy products, flax, wool,
and the many other commodities, will demonstrate that it
does. Even wheat, where we are exporters, shows its effect.
If we take Buffalo, to secure a point of common contact,
American No. 1 Dark Northern is 25 cents to 35 cents higher
than Canadian, No. 2 Dark Hard Winter is 37 cents to 42
cents higher, and No. 2 Red would be 45 cents to 46 cents
higher. Contract wheat for future delivery in Chicago has
been usually as high as future deliveries in Liverpool, al-
though the difference in freight is about 20 cents a bushel,
which means that our wheat is now about that much above
world price levels. The question is complicated with dif-
ferent grades and qualities, some of which do not show the
same differences.

But the largest benefits accruing to the farmer come
from supplying him with home markets. What the farmer
raises must either be sold at home or sent abroad. Our per
capita consumption of butter, sugar, meats,, eggs, milk, and
tobacco is far above those of foreign countries. When the
depression of 1920 came and 5,000,000 of our wage earners
were unemployed, their consumption of the more expensive
agricultural supplies, such as animal products, fell 18 per
cent below what it had been before and what it became
again when employment increased. This was more than

ktlTYVV

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 347

the amount of our exports. Prosperity in our industries is
of more value to the farmer than the whole export market
for foodstuffs. Protection has contributed in our country
to making employment plentiful with the highest wages
and highest standards of living in the world, which is of
inestimable benefit to both our agricultural and industrial
population. General economic stability is of the utmost
importance to the farmer, and a depression in industry with
the attendant unemployment would do the farmer an in-
calculable injury.

If the price fixing and tariff revision do not seem to be
helpful, there are other proposals that do promise improve-
ments. For financing the farmer we are developing the
farm loan and intermediate credit banks. These have put
out about $1,200,000,000 of loans at moderate rates to about
350,000 farmers. In addition, there is the general banking
system, National and State. All of these agencies need
to give more informed attention to farm needs. They need
more energy in administration. They should be equipped
to supply not only credit but sound business advice, and
the farmers to a much better extent should learn to use all
these facilities.

For a more orderly marketing calculated to secure a bet-
ter range of prices the cooperative movement promises the
greatest success. Already they are handling $2,500,000,000
of farm produce, or nearly one-fifth of the annual produc-
tion. The disposition of surplus produce has been dis-
cussed. If by this is meant the constant raising of a larger
supply than is needed, it is difficult to conceive of any
remedy except reduced production in any such commodity.
But there are, of course, accidental surpluses due to more
favorable weather conditions, which are unavoidable and
which ought to be managed so that they can be spread over
a year or two without depressing prices. The initiative of
the farmers themselves, with such assistance as can be given

348 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

them by the Government without assuming responsibility
for business management, through financing and through
the cooperative movement, would appear to be a wise
method of solving this problem. Of course, I should be
willing to approve any plan that can be devised in accord-
ance with sound economic principles.

To have agriculture worth anything, it must rest on an
independent business basis. It can not at the same time
be part private business and part Government business.
I believe the Government ought to give it every assistance,
but it ought to leave it as the support, the benefit, and the
business of the people. The interest which the National
Government takes in agriculture is manifest by an appro-
priation of about $140,000,000 a year, which is nearly one-
fifth of our total expenditure, exclusive of the Post Office,
prior to the war. I do not need to recount what is being
done for education and good roads, for opening up our
waterways, or the enormous activities of the Department
of Agriculture which reach to almost every farmer in the
land.

The most important development of late years has been
the cooperative movement. With the economic informa-
tion furnished by the department, which was of such great
value to the hog and potato industries for the last year or
two, with better warehouse and storage facilities and a
better credit structure, much can be done to take care of the
ordinary surplus. With a production influenced by infor-
mation from the department, with adequate storage, sup-
plied with necessary credit and the orderly marketing
effected through cooperative action, agriculture could be
placed on a sound and independent business basis. While
the Government ought not to undertake to control or direct,
it should supplement and assist all efforts in this direction.
The leaders in the cooperative movement, with the advice
of the Department of Agriculture, have prepared what is

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 349

believed to be an adequate bill embodying these principles,
which will be presented to the Congress for enactment.
I propose actively and energetically to assist the farmers
to promote their welfare through cooperative marketing.

Under the working out of the provisions of this bill the
farmers would have the active and energetic assistance of
the Government in meeting the problem of surplus pro-
duction. Through consultation and conference the best
experts of the country would be employed as the needs
require and methods of storage, credit, and marketing would
be devised. The agencies created would have at their dis-
posal the active cooperation of the great organizations of
the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Federal
banking. Their representatives at home and abroad would
be engaged in locating and supplying domestic and foreign
markets. The fundamental soundness of this proposal rests
on the principle that it is helping the farmer to help him-
self. Already the cooperative effort in raisins and other
products has met with marked success by adopting this
plan.

It would be a great mistake to underestimate the diffi-
culties under which the farmers labor. They are entitled
to all the sympathy and help which the Government can
give them. But I feel they are also entitled to consider
the encouraging features of their situation. Human nature
is on their side. We are all consumers of food. The more
prosperous we become, the more we consume of the higher-
priced products. In the past, farm prices have always
tended to get the better of industrial prices. In the period
from 1820 to 1860 there was a general rise of all commodi-
ties, but farm prices increased about 50 per cent more than
other commodities. After the Civil War, from the seventies
to 1896, there was a decline in all commodities, but farm
prices declined less, so that their purchasing power actually
increased. From 1896 to 1913, according to the Bureau of

350 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Labor Statistics, the index number of farm prices rose 82
per cent while that of other prices rose but 37 per cent.
It was this great increase in the price of food products
which brought about the complaint and discussion of the
high cost of living, which everyone will recall became acute
about 1911 and remained a problem of economic adjustment
unsolved when the World War began.

With the coming of the great conflict an entire transfor-
mation took place. The price of all commodities rose and,
the price of land rose. There was a great temptation to
expand. Farmers bought more land at very high prices.
Then came the terrible world depression which left many
involved in great debts and everybody with shrunken land
values. Farm produce decreased in price faster than other
commodities. These debts and shrunken values still re-
main as a great burden. On top of them are the war taxes
which the Nation has greatly reduced, but which the local
communities still tend to increase.

It is this burden which is causing distress, but history is
again showing signs of repeating itself. In 1921 the price
of farm produce reached its low point. According to the
Department of Agriculture, however, the end of this four-
year period sees the price of farm products substantially
increased. Much of the debts and taxes remain, but with
the prices now received the present business of farming is
very much improved.

I believe that the past history of the relative trend of
prices between farm products and other commodities is of
tremendous significance. The surplus lancls of the country
are exhausted. The industrial population is outstripping
the farm population. Manufacturing is expanding. These
must come to the farmers for their food and their raw mate-
rials. While we can produce more, the markets for food are
increasing much faster than present farm productivity.
The future of agriculture looks to be exceedingly secure.

THE FARMER AND THE NATION 351

The real wealth of our country, its productive capacity,
its great manufacturing plants, its far-reaching railroad
system, its mighty commerce, and its agriculture did not
come into being all at once, but is the result of a vast multi-
tude of small increments brought about by long, slow, and
laborious toil. Whatever a few individuals may do, the
Nation as a whole and its great subdivisions of industry,
transportation, commerce, and agriculture can increase by
no other method. The percentage of yearly returns upon
all the property of this country is low, but in the aggregate
it is a stupendous sum. Unless all past experience is to be
disregarded, notwithstanding its present embarrassments,
agriculture as a whole should lead industry in future
prosperity.

In all our economic discussions we must remember that
we can not stop with the mere acquisition of wealth. The
ultimate result to be desired is not the making of money,
but the making of people. Industry, thrift, and self-control
are not sought because they create wealth, but because they
create character. These are the prime product of the farm.
We who have seen it, and lived it, we know.

It is this life that the Nation is so solicitous to maintain
and improve. It dwells in the open country, among the
hills and valleys and over the great plains, in the unob-
structed light of the sun, and under the glimmer of the
stars. It brings its inhabitants into an intimate and true
relation to nature, where they can live in harmony with
the Great Purpose. It has been the life of freedom and
independence, of religious convictions and abiding charac-
ter. In its past it has made and saved America and helped
rescue the world. In its future it holds the supreme prom-
ise of human progress.

XXXI

It is not through selfishness or wastefulness or
arrogance, but through self-denial, conservation,
and service, that we shall build up the American
spirit. This is the true constructive economy,
the true faith on which our institutions rest.

CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY

As would be the practice in any well-managed concern,
the executive heads of the various departments and bureaus
of the United States Government meet twice a year for
receiving a report of the results of their efforts to make
the business of the Government more successful. This is
primarily a meeting to consider the Federal financial opera-
tions. But it approaches that problem not from the side
of the finding and the raising of revenue but from the oppo-
site side of the conservation and the expenditure of revenue.
It is an eternal challenge to which we respond, of how to
secure a more efficient government with a smaller expendi-
ture of money. It is a great test of engineering skill in
the constant elimination of waste, in the making of every
dollar count, and in the conserving of national energy. On
the success with which we meet these requirements depends
the welfare of the Government and the prosperity and
happiness of the American people.

It is for these reasons that the greatest emphasis should
be placed on constructive economy. Merely to reduce the
expenses of the Government might not in itself be bene-
ficial. Such action might be only the discontinuance of a
wholly necessary activity. No civilized community would
close its schools, abolish its courts, disband its police force,
or discontinue its fire department. Such action could not
be counted as gain, but as irreparable loss. The underlying
spirit of economy is to secure better education, wider ad-
ministration of justice, more public order, and greater se-

At the Tenth Regular Meeting of the Business Organization of the Gov-
ernment, Memorial Continental Hall, January 30, 1926.

355

356 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

curity from conflagration, all through a superior organization
which will decrease the unit of cost. It is all reducible to
a question of national efficiency.

Each one of you may sometimes feel that you are per-
forming a small and ineffective part and that the expendi-
tures in your department will make so little difference that
it is not worth while to put forth much effort. Pausing
long enough to remind you that in the first place the char-
acter of the manhood and womanhood which you develop
will depend entirely on the amount of effort that you put
forth, I pass over that consideration to the fact that though
each of you may contribute a comparatively small share
to the general result, yet in a concern so vast as the Govern-
ment of the United States the aggregate is very large. I
want to see the public service of my country make a large
contribution to the character of those who are employed in
it and become the most efficient instrument of organized
government in the world. Before you admit that your own
part is small and ineffective you should remember that
the whole is equal to the sum of all the parts and take a
survey of the broad plan which is gradually being framed
in accordance with the system of constructive economy for
the conduct of the Federal business.

It happens that this is the tenth Budget meeting. If
you will look back at the situation which existed in June,
1921, only four and one-half years ago, when your first
meeting was held, you will be able better to understand
the tremendous results of a policy of constructive economy.
At that time 5,000,000 of our people were without employ-
ment, trade and commerce were despondent, transportation
was unable to finance itself, the loss of buying power on
the part of the wage earner depressed the price of all agri-
cultural products, our foreign relations were in an uncertain
state, we were threatened with an inundation of alien goods
and alien peoples, about $7,000,000,000 of unfunded public

klURf

CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY 357

debt was shortly to mature. It was almost impossible to
secure private credit. The burden of taxation was over-
whelming.

The action of the Government was prompt and effective.
It is for us to see that it remains sustained. The flood of
immigration and importations was checked by legislation.
Our own people began to find work. Our own goods began
to find a market. Taxes were enormously reduced. Federal
expenditures, which then amounted to $5,538,000,000 for
that fiscal year, it is now estimated will be cut down to
$3,619,000,000 for this fiscal year. That is a saving of
$1,919,000,000. Our short-term obligations were so skill-
fully funded that instead of embarrassing business the
operation actually stimulated it. The public debt then
was $23,997,000,000. At the end of this fiscal year it is
estimated it will be less than $20,000,000,000. This is a
payment of about $4,000,000,000 and represents a yearly
saving in interest of $179,000,000. Credit was extended to
agriculture and transportation through the War Finance
Corporation.

With the return of employment and high wages the con-
sumption of agricultural products increased 18 per cent.
Our foreign relations were adjusted in a manner which
added to the peace and stability of the world. The enor-
mous debts due to us from abroad have been steadily ad-
justed until but one of large importance remains. The
system of foreign loans has increased foreign purchasing
powers. Economies in production have decreased our do-
mestic costs. Our exports and imports for the last year
were about $9,000,000,000, the highest mark ever reached in
time of peace. With our assistance the economic condition
of the whole world has been very greatly improved.

To eliminate competition in armaments and prevent the
friction and suspicion which inevitably arises from that
practice, the Washington Conference provided treaties

358 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

which not only afford great financial relief but are very
effective in the promotion of international good will and
confidence. Before us is the prospect of another conference
which holds the promise of further advance in this most
attractive field. These accomplishments mean interna-
tional peace, economic prosperity, and financial stability.

In your own peculiar field the most impressive action was
the adoption of the Budget system. With the cooperation
of the Congress, with your loyal support, and under the
forceful leadership of General Dawes, it was put into opera-
tion. In a little over two years it became apparent that
largely because of its efficient continuance under General
Lord it was possible again to reduce taxes. Such a bill was
enacted by the Congress which convened in December,
1923. Due to the same moving factors, we have been en-
abled to propose another reduction in taxes, which is now
pending before the Congress and promises to be speedily
enacted. This is your record. It is due to your individual
action. Measured in its entirety, it is not small or inconse-
quential, but tremendous in its results and of overwhelming
significance in its implications. It has been a large con-
tributing factor to prosperity at home, and to peace, repara-
tion, and restoration abroad.

It is my belief that we should supplement these achieve-
ments, round out these accomplishments and reinforce this
same general policy of constructive economy, enlarged pros-
perity, and peace, by adhering to the Permanent Court of
International Justice. When accompanied with proper res-
ervations I can see in such action no diminution of our
sovereignty, no increase in our national peril, but rather an
instrument which will add more securities to human rights
and more guaranties to international tranquility. We
have not reached these domestic results without struggle
and sacrifice and the encountering of opposition. We shall
not be able to do much good to ourselves or make much

CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY 359

contribution to the welfare of the world, unless we continue
the same struggle and make increasing sacrifices.

To me, all these proposals for conservation and economy-
do not seem either selfish or provincial, but rather they
reveal a spirit dedicated to the service of humanity. If
these things are not important, then there are no earthly
considerations that are important.

Although these accomplishments are past history and
ought to be known of all men, yet it is well that they be
recalled and reiterated, in order that we may better under-
stand the general plan which not only all the people in the
Government but all the people in the country are engaged
in putting into effect. The penalty for achievement is al-
ways a demand for even greater achievement. In this
effort for retrenchment you have not disappointed the peo-
ple or the President, and it is my firm conviction that you
never will. If you at times grow weary of the constant
stress put on economy, you will see that something more is
involved than can be measured in dollars and cents. The
spirit of real constructive economy is something higher and
nobler. It does not imply so much a limitation as an at-
tempt to be free from limitation. It does not contemplate
curtailing ample supplies for worthy purposes and real
needs, but it is the enemy of waste and the ally of orderly
procedure. It is an attempt to increase and enlarge the
scope of the individual and the life of the nation.

How great a need exists to emphasize the homely funda-
mental virtue of government economy is seen when we
contemplate the mounting tide of expenditure and indebted-
ness of municipal and State governments. This tendency
is one of great concern. The very fact that the Federal
Government has been able to cut down its expenditures,
decrease its indebtedness, and reduce its taxes indicates
how great is the accomplishment which you have made in
behalf of the people of the Nation. These results are all

360 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

monuments to you and to the Congress. It has been your
work and your cooperation that has brought forth these
fortunate conclusions.

Heretofore I have expressed the opinion that we can not
look for further reductions in the cost of the actual trans-
acting of the business of the Government. It is only natu-
ral that the normal growth of the Nation would produce
some expansion. But constant scrutiny is necessary to pre-
vent fossilization and decay. Careful oversight of person-
nel is always required. The pay roll represents the largest
single item in the business of the Government. During the
past calendar year this has been reduced locally by more
than 5,000 names — an annual saving of $8,000,000 — al-
though when persons are dropped from one department
they are always taken care of in another wherever possible.

Past experience has shown that a reduction of taxe3 has
been followed by increased prosperity. As the volume of
business increases the Federal revenue increases. If we
are moderate in our expenditures, the natural increase in
profits ought within the next few years to furnish us again
with a surplus revenue which will permit a further tax
reduction.

We were the first nation in recent years to adopt a plan
to reduce our debt and put the plan into operation. We
are maintaining our sinking fund and applying the pay-
ments made on our foreign loans to the retirement of our
debt. As a result this Nation has to-day the best credit
in the world. We have lowered our interest costs not only
by reducing our debt, but by so improving our credit that
we can borrow at lower rates. Since interest is 22% per
cent of our total Federal expenditures, a reduction in inter-
est is a most fruitful field for permanent saving. If we
continued this plan during the post-war depression, there
is certainly little reason for changing it in these days of
prosperity.

fJllTTi*

CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY 361

Very soon you will have your appropriations for the next
fiscal year. It would be wise early to lay out a carefully
prepared program in making the apportionment over the
several periods of the year, as is required by the law. If
all our expenditures are wisely planned and wisely made,
retrenchment will take care of itself. You should not for-
get to lay aside an emergency fund. Something unexpected
usually happens, but if it does not a real saving is made.
The reserve set up in this way for the last fiscal year has
an unexpended balance of $24,000,000. It is of the utmost
importance to remember that constructive economy means
preparation for the future. Our country is in need of in-
ternal improvements and developments. A new building
bill is under way, and our great interior should be pro-
vided with river and waterway facilities. These two proj-
ects represent a capital investment on which the returns
will undoubtedly justify the costs. But we should beware
of increased permanent commitments.

When the Government rents privately owned buildings
it pays a high rate of interest, all the taxes, and some profit.
When it occupies its own buildings the interest represented
is very low, and taxes and profits are eliminated. The open-
ing up of waterways means the development of commerce,
less cost for freight on raw materials, and a large saving
to our agricultural regions. The extent to which these
projects can be undertaken in the immediate future awaits
the outcome of the pending tax bill.

What all these efforts mean would be greatly underesti-
mated if it be thought that they begin and end with the
saving of money. Considered in their entirety, they play
an important part in the wonderful American experiment
for the advancement of human welfare. It is not only the
method by which we have built railroads, developed agri-
culture, created commerce, and established industry, not
only the method by which we have made nearly 18,000,000

362 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

automobiles and put a telephone and a radio in so large a
proportion of our homes, but it is also the method by which
we have founded schools, endowed hospitals, and erected
places of religious worship. It is the material groundwork on
which the whole fabric of society rests. It has given to the
average American a breadth of outlook, a variety of experi-
ence, and a richness of life that in former generations was
entirely beyond the reach of even the most powerful princes.

All of this effort represents not merely the keeping of
our money but the keeping of our faith. One of the chief
dangers to the success of popular government is that it will
throw away self-restraint and self-control and adopt laws
which, being without sound economic foundation, bring on
such a financial distress as to result in want, misery, dis-
order, and the dissolution of society. America has demon-
strated that self-government can be so administered as
fairly to protect each individual in all his rights, whether
they affect his person or his property. Under constitutional
authority we tax everything, but we confiscate nothing. It
is not through selfishness or wastefulness or arrogance, but
through self-denial, conservation, and service, that we shall
build up the American spirit. This is the true constructive
economy, the true faith on which our institutions rest.

Our chief of staff in the direction of all this work is
General Lord. It is because of his continuing efforts and
your constant cooperation that our Government service
to-day is a greatly improved service. It is more efficient
and better able to function. The day of administration
without coordination has passed. Our country has adopted
a system of ordered finance. While much of the inspiration
for this great achievement is furnished by the words of
General Lord, the action has been furnished by yourselves.
I present him to you not as your opponent or your critic,
but as your most loyal friend and your most sympathetic
defender.

XXXII

Truth dissipates misunderstanding and miscon-
ception. It is the junction of a free press not
only to make the truth available to everyone
within its sphere, but to cherish and develop a
public sentiment for all that is loyal to the truth.
A free and enlightened press, by this means, be-
comes one of the safeguards of liberty.

«J. II

JOURNALISM IN THE NEW WORLD

This is the First Pan American Congress of Journalists.
In the number of countries represented and in the extent of
territory embraced, it is without doubt one of the most
important meetings of publishers and editors that was ever
held. And when it is considered that within your numbers
are those who control and shape the policies of the press in
almost all the Western Hemisphere, the weight and signifi-
cance of your conference becomes still more impressive.
It is a peculiar pleasure to extend to your Congress, which
represents so many American Republics, a most cordial
greeting, and to assure you that the Government and people
of the United States are pleased to make an appropriate
response to the honor which your presence confers.

Possibilities of broad and beneficial results lie in the very
nature of the untrammeled constituency of your body.
While provision was made for it under a resolution of the
Fifth International Conference of American States, com-
monly known as the Fifth Pan American Conference, held
at Santiago, Chile, in 1923, it is not an official gathering.
Your members in no wise represent their respective govern-
ments. You are here in your individual capacities as the
free agents of a free press of free countries, in voluntary
conference to discuss ways and means of bringing the people
of the western world to a better understanding and a more
sympathetic accord.

Truth dissipates misunderstanding and misconception.
It is the function of a free press not only to make the truth

Address before the First Pan American Congress of Journalists, Wash-
ington, D. C, April 8, 1926.

365

366 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

available to everyone within its sphere, but to cherish and
develop a public sentiment for all that is loyal to the truth.
A free and enlightened press, by this means, becomes one
of the safeguards of liberty. When devoted to these ideals
it is a vitally stimulating cultural force.

Since the earliest establishment of Republics in Latin
America there has been a common bond between the people
of those countries and our' people. The strength of this
bond has grown with the years. But, up to very recent
times, there has been an unfortunate lack of information
on the part of the general public of the United States of
the aims, achievements, and progress of those regions. And,
I am told, a similar condition in regard to affairs in the
United States has existed among their people. Such con-
ditions can be remedied only by the dissemination of knowl-
edge. Various Pan American organizations have done a
most valuable work in this direction. But one of the most
important factors in bringing about a better understanding
has been an awakening of interest among us in the news of
the countries represented by our visitors; conversely has
come the desire on their part to learn more of what we are
doing and why we are doing it. This has resulted in the
enlargement of old and the organization of new services for
the interchange of news. As I understand the purpose of
your conference, it is not only for the forming of friendships
by personal contact, but also for the exchange of views and
the discussion of conditions and problems, as they come to
the editor who is striving to present to his readers a true
perspective of what is taking place in his own country and
in other countries.

After your deliberations in Washington you, who are
our most welcome guests, will visit other parts of our coun-
try to see for yourselves the material and cultural progress
we are making. Perhaps in other years our journalists will
have the privilege of coming into intimate contact with

JOURNALISM IN THE NEW WORLD 367

your nations and of seeing for themselves the wonderful
advance you have made in these directions, thus giving us
both a more complete knowledge and understanding of our
common aims, aspirations, and achievements.

It is most appropriate that you are meeting in this beau-
tiful building. In a very real sense this is your home. The
ideals and the purposes of the Pan American Union are
those which the press of this hemisphere should seek to
serve. It should promote a better understanding among the
western Republics, and it should foster a spirit of sympathy,
harmony, and cooperation. Your newspapers may do much
to emphasize and make more effective the efforts of this
organization to bring the United States and the Latin
American Republics into closer bonds of mutual helpful-
ness.

Your visit to our country will, I trust, be beneficial to
you by reason of what you may learn of our general mode
of life. You will come in contact with our industries, our
universities, our political and our religious institutions.
This will enable you the better to interpret our ideals in
your future communications to your own people. It will
also provide an opportunity for our citizens to give you
personal assurances of the depth and breadth of the friend-
ship which exists here for you and your people, and the
earnest desire for a continuation of those friendly relations
which are the result of commercial intercourse and mutual
aspirations.

It will also afford the occasion for the inhabitants of our
country to learn more of what our sister Republics are and
what they represent. It will give them an opportunity to
recall that the early inhabitants of colonial South America
established centers of culture earlier than similar agencies
were established in English colonial possessions in North
America. No less than eight institutions of higher learning
were founded prior to the establishment in 1636 of Harvard,

368 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

the oldest university in the United States. The Royal and
Pontifical University of St. Paul, in Mexico, and the
Greater University of St. Mark, in Lima, both were char-
tered by royal decree in the year 1551. These institutions
were intended to equip their pupils for the priesthood, just
as the first schools in North America were designed pri-
marily to train young men for the ministry.

Printing in the New World first appeared in Latin
America. The first printing press this side of the Atlantic
was set up in Mexico in 1535 and the second in Lima in 1586.
It was not until 1639 that the first printing press, in what
is now the United States, was used in Cambridge, Mass.
The dissemination of news in printed form was resorted
to in South America as early as 1594. A leaflet published in
Lima gave to the public the news of the capture of an
English pirate. About 1620 news leaflets frequently ap-
peared in Mexico and Lima, but publications resembling
later-day newspapers in any degree were not attempted
until 1772.

In any consideration of the comparative progress and
achievements of Latin America and the United States we
must remember that the United States had the advantage
of a national existence for more than forty years before the
Latin American countries had become independent. The
Battle of Yorktown, which marked the end of our Revolu-
tion, was in 1781, while the decisive battle for Latin Ameri-
can independence was fought at Ayachucho, Peru, in 1824.

Since about 1876, these independent Republics have been
expanding commercially at a rapid rate. The following are
very striking figures, although prepared some years ago.
In 1919, with a population under 80,000,000, the total for-
eign commerce of Latin American countries amounted to
over $5,000,000,000. With these figures compare those of
the United States in 1900, when our population was about

JOURNALISM IN THE NEW WORLD 369

76,000,000 and our foreign commerce less than $2,500,-
000,000.

Historians refer to the nineteenth century as distin-
guished by the development of the United States. Elihu
Root, after his official visit, said, in 1906, "I believe that
no student can help seeing that the twentieth century will
be the century of phenomenal development in South
America." Theodore Roosevelt made a similar statement
at the time of his trip to Brazil in 1914. All that has hap-
pened since has tended to prove the correctness of these
prophecies.

Too few people in this country have an adequate realiza-
tion of the immensity of Latin America. Many do not
know that these twenty Republics cover an area of 9,000,000
square miles, approximately three times the area of the
United States; that Brazil alone is larger than the United
States, and that Argentina is nearly two-thirds as large.
And, I fear, the conception of our average citizen is woe-
fully deficient as to the extent to which these Republics
have developed in industry, science, and the arts, and to
which they enjoy all the improvements of modern civiliza-
tion, oftentimes improving these improvements.

In some measure this has been due to the lack of informa-
tion in our press. Some one has remarked there was a
time when readers of our newspapers here might have im-
agined revolutions and volcanic disturbances were the chief
product of Latin America. On the other hand, the readers
of Latin American papers got little idea of our national
life from the accounts of train wrecks, lynchings, and di-
vorces, which, it was said, constituted the principal news
printed there about our country.

That day has passed. Since 1916, due to our increased
cable facilities and the reduction of cable tolls, as well as
the keen desire for more information, the amount of news
exchanged between the Americas has been increased greatly,

370 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

and its character is more constructive. I venture the pre-
diction that as a result of this Congress the papers in the
United States in the future will present more complete and
more accurate pictures of the cultural and industrial prog-
ress of Latin America, and that the press of those Republics
will give to their readers a better understanding of the
ideals and purposes of the United States.

The awakening of the spirit of independence in Latin
America, just as the world was turning into the nineteenth
century, inspired a literature that ranks high in quality.
This literary inspiration continued to be fed by the series
of romantic events following independence. I can mention
only a few of the many men of literary distinction whose
works in time may become as well known to us as those of
French, Italian, German, and English authors, as we extend
the study of Latin American tongues in our schools. Among
these are Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, of Argentina;
Andres Bello, of Venezuela; Ruben Dario, of Nicaragua;
Jorge Isaacs, of Colombia ; Ricardo Palma, of Peru ; Benja-
min Vicuna Mackenna, of Chile; Jose Enrique Rodo, of
Uruguay; Juan de Dios Peza, of Mexico; Olavo Bilac, of
Brazil; Jose Maria Heredia, of Cuba; and Jose Joaquin
Olmedo, of Ecuador. You will recall many other brilliant
names.

One of our writers, after calling attention to the fact
that Sarmiento was a contemporary of Washington Irving,
James Fenimore Cooper, Bryant, Poe, Longfellow, Emer-
son, Hawthorne, Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, all famous
writers of the United States, adds: ". . . , none exhibits
Sarmiento's combination of activity and reflection, roman-
ticism and practicality, brilliance and warmth. With the
exception of Emerson it is doubtful if any of these paladins
of our golden age of literature was his superior, and it was
certain that none did more to uplift his country and to raise
the general level of culture."

JOURNALISM IN THE NEW WORLD 371

Sarmiento should be well known in this country. After
serving here as minister plenipotentiary of Argentina he be-
came its President. He was a great student of the institu-
tions and history of the United States and wrote a biography
of Abraham Lincoln. After conference with Horace Mann
he established a system of education in Argentina modeled
after some of those in this country.

In the field of drama Latin America has produced Juan
Ruiz de Alarcon. Scholarship, poetry, fiction, criticism,
and political writing all have had their exponents in the
various Latin American Republics. Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela have national academies of
art and conservatories of music. There are many who
consider the Palace of Fine Arts of Santiago, Chile, as the
finest of its kind on the Western Hemisphere.

The Mexican Government through all the years never
has failed to encourage art. This encouragement has been
put in concrete form by the establishment in recent years
of the Coyoacan Art School. Music is more genuinely
popular in Latin America probably than in the United
States. Most cities or towns of any size have open-air con-
certs, and the great operatic stars have been received with
proper acclaim and rewarded with large remunerations.
State and municipality foster the drama and erect fine
buildings in which to produce it. The Solis, of Montevideo ;
the National Theater of Mexico, and the Colon of Buenos
Aires surpass most of our theaters in the United States in
size, cost, and beauty. The best theatrical companies in
Europe are obtained, and much native talent is being
developed.

Latin America has its share of scientists, to which num-
ber are being added each year many graduates of the lead-
ing universities. I might mention the names of Dr. Oswaldo
Cruz, municipal sanitation expert ; Rodrigues, the botanist,
and Lacerda, the biologist, all Brazilians; Dr. Alejandro

372 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Alvarez, of Chile, widely known throughout the world as
an authority on international law, and Dr. Luis Drago, of
Argentina, who enunciated the Drago doctrine. That many
in the United States may not have heard of these eminent
men, simply indicates a lack of information on our part.

While popular education was not developed in Latin
America so soon as in the territory originally comprising
the English colonies, it has made rapid strides there since
1880. The development of normal schools has been marked.
"They are proving in particular," one of our writers says,
"the educational and economic salvation of Latin American
womanhood * * *." Our women who take part in public
affairs might learn a great deal by studying the history of
the Sociedad de Beneficencia, composed of about sixty prom-
inent women of Buenos Aires. For many years this organ-
ization has conducted most of the public philanthropies
of that city, collecting and distributing benevolences on a
large scale. The income of the society, I understand,
amounts to more than $4,000,000 a year.

In recent years has come a profound realization that the
commercial interests of Latin America and the United
States have a strong natural bond. Since the World War
we have enlarged that interest by vastly increasing our
shipping facilities between here and various Latin Ameri-
can ports, by establishing branches of our banks, and by the
investment of great amounts of capital. It is estimated
that in 1923 United States capital invested in Latin America
amounted to $3,760,000,000; in 1924, a trifle over $4,000,-
000,000, and in 1925 was $4,210,000,000. In 1925 banks in
the United States had some forty branches in various Latin
American cities. Figures compiled by our Department of
Commerce show that in 1910 our exports to Latin America,
including the Guianas and all the West Indies except Porto
Rico, amounted to $279,663,000 and our imports from there
amounted to $408,837,000. Last year the exports were

JOURNALISM IN THE NEW WORLD 373

$882,315,000 and the imports $1,041,122,000. Our exports
to the four Republics of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and
Mexico increased from $141,615,000 in 1910 to $420,211,000
in 1925. Our imports from these countries increased in
this fifteen year period from $217,240,000 to $569,771,000. It
may be interesting to compare these 1925 figures with those
for our total foreign trade in that year, which were: Ex-
ports, $4,909,396,000; imports, $4,227,995,000. Thus we
see nearly one-fifth of all our exports went to Latin
America and practically one-fourth of our imports came
from there. While they have our mining and printing ma-
chinery, locomotives, sewing machines, cash registers,
phonographs, radio, typewriters, and other implements, we
need and have their very valuable raw products.

Their cities are developing as rapidly as our own and
some seem to have surpassed ours in the magnificence of
their buildings and in the extent of their city-planning
activities. If all our citizens here do not yet realize fully
that Latin America is as progressive as the United States;
and if some Latin Americans, as I have been told is the case,
are prone to feel that this country is interested in material
things alone, I am sure it may be explained by the lack
of that knowledge which comes from personal contact
through travel and by the mutual inadequacy of news re-
ports of the significant facts and developments in the re-
spective countries. With the increase of transportation
facilities between our Republics travel will increase. And
there can be no douot you publishers and editors are con-
stantly striving to enlarge and improve your dissemination
of vital news concerning the different people of the Western
Hemisphere.

No newspapers in the world have a higher rank than
some of those in Latin America. I understand the amount
of cable matter contained in our own press for a good
many years did not begin to compare with what was to be

374 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

found in the leading dailies of the Southern Republics.
Several of these newspapers have buildings equal, if not
superior, to those in our country. One newspaper in par-
ticular is notable for public service outside the mere publi-
cation of news. It maintains free legal and medical bureaus,
and showrooms for the display of things intimately con-
nected with agricultural, stock-raising, and the chemical
industries. Also, it furnishes auditoriums for lectures, plays,
concerts, and other gatherings. It approaches a university.
The high esteem in which these pages are deservedly held
throughout the world has been built up by the character
of the men who have guided them. It is particularly grati-
fying to have present at this gathering men whose character
and reputation are recognized internationally, including
one who bears a name which for three generations has stood
for the best in journalism.

The First Congress of Journalists was a fine idea. I
hope it will achieve all that its promoters could wish. It
seems to me it would be well if your gathering could be re-
peated periodically, possibly alternating between Latin
America and the United States. Such meetings can not fail
to have far-reaching consequences, not only in the preserva-
tion of the most cordial good feeling existing among our
respective nations but also in the drawing together of our
peoples into closer bonds of sympathetic understanding. It
should result in a better comprehension that, after all, we
of the Western Hemisphere are one people striving for a
common purpose, animated by common ideals and bound
together in a common destiny. Unto us has been bequeathed
the precious heritage and the high obligation of developing
and consecrating a new world to the great cause of hu-
manity.

dliV

XXXIII

The whole system of American Government
rests on the ballot box. Unless citizens perform
their duties there, such a system of government
is doomed to failure.

THE NEW RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN

Coming to address the Thirty-fifth Continental Congress
of the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution reminds me that I have had that privilege
several times in the past. You represent one of the most
distinguished patriotic orders of our Nation in cherishing
the memory of the people and the record of the events of
the great struggle which resulted in American independence.
It is a marked honor to be invited to speak in your presence.
But I do not wish to be the sole recipient of such oppor-
tunity. Perhaps you might profit by some change in the
future. In a fresh view of a great period, animated by a
great purpose, consecrated by a great result, you are more
likely to secure a much larger inspiration.

In Massachusetts the 19th of April is known as Patriots
Day. It is honored and set apart. The whole Nation is
coming more and more to observe it. As the time lengthens
from the occurrences of 1775, its significance becomes more
apparent and its importance more real. It stands out as
one of the great days in history, not because it can be said
the American Revolution actually began then, but because
on that occasion it became apparent that the patriots were
determined to defend their rights.

The Revolutionary period has always appeared to me to
be significant for three definite reasons: The people of that
day had ideals for the advancement of human welfare.
They kept their ideals within the bounds of what was prac-
tical, according to the results of past experience. They did

At Washington, April 19th 1926, before the Daughters of the American
Revolution.

377

378 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

not hesitate to make the necessary sacrifice to establish
those ideals in a workable form of political institutions. As
I have examined the record of your society, I believe that
it is devoted to the same principles of practical idealism
enshrined in institutions by sacrifice.

This is but the natural inheritance of those who are de-
scended from Revolutionary times. In this day, with our
broadened view of the importance of women in working
out the destiny of mankind, there will be none to deny that
as there were fathers in our Republic so there were mothers.
If they did not take part in the formal deliberations, yet
by their abiding faith they inspired and encouraged the
men; by their sacrifice they performed their part in the
struggle out of which came our country. We read of the
flaming plea of Hannah Arnett, which she made on a dreary
day in December, 1776, when Lord Cornwallis, victorious at
Fort Lee, held a strategic position in New Jersey. A group
of the Revolutionists, weary and discouraged, were discus-
sing the advisability of giving up the struggle. Casting
aside the proprieties which forbade a woman to interfere in
the counsels of men, Hannah Arnett proclaimed her faith.
In eloquent words, which at once shamed and stung to
action, she convinced her husband and his companions that
righteousness must win. Who has not heard of Molly
Pitcher, whose heroic services at the Battle of Monmouth
helped the sorely tried army of George Washington! We
have been told of the unselfish devotion of the women who
gave their own warm garments to fashion clothing for the
suffering Continental Army during that .bitter winter at
Valley Forge. The burdens of the war were not all borne
by the men.

Such a record made it eminently fitting that in the course
of time there should be founded the Daughters of the
American Revolution. Starting in 1890, small in numbers
but great in purpose, it is little wonder your society has

ttfitt

RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN 379

grown great in membership and influence. From four chap-
ters and 390 members at the end of the first six months, it
has reached a total enrollment of more than 156,000, and a
chapter roll of over 2,000. In recent years there have been
periods when new members have been taken in at the rate
of 1,000 a month. Truly, a powerful force for good in our
country — such a body of high-minded women with such a
heritage of sacrifice and devotion to an ideal! What possi-
bilities for future service rest in such a devoted body of
citizens !

I have been reading your constitution and considering
the objects of your society there set forth. It declares your
purpose :

"To perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and
women who achieved American independence, by the ac-
quisition and protection of historical spots, and the erection
of monuments * * *."

How well this has been carried out is known to all who
have visited such spots. That it has been done is a reason
for your existence. Who can measure the inspiration that
may be drawn from such symbols of heroic deeds !

You have encouraged research into Revolutionary his-
tory, published the results, aided in the preservation of
documents and relics, of the individual service records of
soldiers and patriots. You have promoted the celebration
of patriotic anniversaries. Worthy acts of service to the
Nation, each and every one!

You undertake to promote institutions for the diffusion
of knowledge to the end that there may be developed "the
largest capacity for performing the duties of American
citizens." You have added to your endeavors of this char-
acter the very practical and necessary work of helping the
foreign born to understand and acquire the full benefit of
living in America.

But it is the third and last, and the most important, para-

380 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

graph of your declaration of purpose that arouses the keen-
est interest. In it you say it shall be your endeavor :

"To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of
American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of
country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings
of liberty." These are principles worthy of the best support
that the country can give. Yet, it is not beyond the capa-
city of the humblest citizen to make some contribution for
their establishment. However exalted is the conception of
our institutions, they are not beyond the reach of the com-
mon run of people. They are ideal, but they are practical.
They rest on the every-day virtues — honesty, industry, and
thrift. As the overwhelming mass of our people are thor-
oughly loyal to these principles, we can feel a warranted
assurance that the foundations of our institutions are secure.

But while we are justified in the assumption that the
heart of the people is sound, and that they are moved
by worthy motives, it can not be denied that we always
have and do now suffer from many minor afflictions. That
would be disturbing if one did not realize that more serious
maladies have been met and overcome in the past, and that
there is every reason to believe that our people have suffi-
cient character to meet the requirements of the present
day.

Our Republic gives to its citizens great opportunities,
and under it they have achieved greater blessings than ever
came to any other people. It is exceedingly wholesome to
stop and contemplate that undisputed fact from time to
time. Then, it is necessary to contemplate the inescapable
corollary that the enjoyment and perpetuation of these
conditions necessarily lay upon our people the obligation
of a corresponding service and sacrifice. Citizenship in
America is not a private enterprise, but a public function.
Although I have indicated that it is my firm conviction that
this requirement will be met, it can not be denied that if

RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN 381

it is not met disaster will overtake the whole fabric of our
institutions.

Our very success and prosperity have brought with them
their own perils. It can not be denied that in the splendor
and glamour of our life the moral sense is sometimes
blinded. It can not be disputed that in too many quarters
there is a lack of reverence for authority and of obedience
to law. Such occurrences are sporadic and produce their
own remedy. When society finds that its life and property
are in peril from evildoers, it is very quick to organize its
forces for its own protection. That can not fail to be done
in our country, for our people as a whole are thoroughly
law-abiding.

It is not in violence and crime that our greatest danger
lies. These evils are so perfectly apparent that they very
quickly arouse the moral power of the people for their sup-
pression. A far more serious danger lurks in the shirking of
those responsibilities of citizenship, where the evil may not
be so noticeable but is more insidious and likely to be more
devastating.

We live in a republic. A vital principle of that form of
government is representation. More and more as our popu-
lation increases it becomes necessary for the people to ex-
press their will through their duly chosen delegates. If
we are to maintain the principle that governments derive
their just powers from the consent of the governed, if we
are to have any measure of self-government, if the voice
of the people is to rule, if representatives are truly to reflect
the popular will, it is altogether necessary that in each
election there should be a fairly full participation by all
the qualified voters.

This is very far from being the case in recent years. Since
1880 there has been a marked increase in the tendency to
remain away from the polls on the part of those entitled to
vote. But, despite a steady decline in the vote in the five

382 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

presidential elections in the period 1880-1896, there was a
voting average of 80 per cent. Out of every 100 persons
entitled to vote 80 went to the polls. For the last two
presidential elections the average has been less than 50
per cent, and that in the face of a sincere effort on the part
of numerous organizations to get out the vote. In this
effort it is reported many Daughters of the American Revo-
lution took part. From its early inception the town meet-
ing, featuring New England life, an example of pure democ-
racy, was generally well attended. Although representative
government did not originate here, our form of representa-
tive democracy is our own product. The national election
day was fixed in the Constitution, and most of the States
accepted that first Tuesday after the first Monday in No-
vember as the day upon which the voters should choose
their local officials. Election day in the olden times was
generally considered more or less sacred — one to be devoted
to the discharge of the obligations of citizenship.

In the intervening years customs and habits have
changed. Opportunities for recreation have increased. Our
entire mode of life has been recast through invention, the
great growth of cities, and for other reasons. Undoubtedly,
this has been responsible in no small measure for the wide-
spread disregard on the part of so many of our citizens of
the privilege and duty of voting. But back of these condi-
tions there are probably some deeper and more funda-
mental reasons.

It was hoped that giving the vote to women would arouse
a more general interest in the obligations, of election day.
That has not yet proved to be the case. The presidential
election in 1920 was the first after the adoption of the uni-
versal suffrage amendment. There is no way to divide the
total vote cast by men and women. But, after that election
some rather complicated calculations were made based on
the assumption that the accession of women might be pre-

RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN 383

sumed to double the vote. The calculators reached the
conclusion that of the approximate 27,000,000 votes cast
only 37 per cent represented the votes of women. Some say
the percentage of feminine vote was greater in 1924. Others
say it was less.

I am not disposed to accept these conclusions as alto-
gether fair to the women. And it stands to reason that it
would take some time for them to become used to exer-
cising the privilege which had belonged to the men of this
country for many generations.

It is not my purpose to draw any distinction between the
men and the women as to the extent to which they take
advantage of their privilege and perform their duty at the
ballot box. But rather it is my idea to call your attention
to the startling fact that in the last two presidential elec-
tions barely 50 per cent of those qualified to vote have done
so. In the senatorial elections in off years the voting per-
centage is much smaller.

A published study of the senatorial vote of 1922 revealed
some astonishing facts. In not a few of the States the
total vote cast for senatorial candidates was less than 50
per cent of the total possible vote. In not a single case
did the successful candidate secure anywhere near a ma-
jority of the total possible vote. There was one State in
which the percentage was 42 and another in which it was 33.
From that it ran down sharply to certain States where the
candidates elected received as low as 7, 9, or 10 per cent of
the total possible vote.

If we are to keep our representative form of government
and to maintain the principle that the majority shall rule,
it behooves us to take some drastic action to arouse the
voters of this country to a greater interest in their civic
duties on election day. Many remedies have been pro-
posed, from disfranchisement to criminal action. The most
practical, I believe, however, is for all bodies of men and

384 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

women interested in the welfare of this country to join to-
gether under some efficient form of organization to correct
this evil which has been coming on us for more than 40
years, but which within the last decade has become most
acute.

Having in mind the poor showing made in the presi-
dential election of 1920, an effort was made to get out a
larger participation on election day in 1924. Such promi-
nent bodies as the National Civic Federation, the National
League of Women Voters, the American Federation of
Labor, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in
America, and a large number of other organizations, busi-
ness as well as civic, each in its own way, attempted to get
people to the polls. Members of the Daughters of the
American Revolution took part as individuals but not as
an organization, I understand. When the vote was counted
it was found the percentage of vote cast was very little
greater in 1924 than in 1920. One of those most earnestly
interested in the movement writing about it later said:

"Was it a tragedy or was it a farce — the result of the
great and more or less spectacular campaign by voluntary
organizations to 'Get Out the Vote'?"

Despite all this effort the percentage of those voting was
barely 50. The question naturally arises, Had it not been
for all this work would not the decline have reached an
extraordinary and a humiliatingly low point? The very fact
that there was little net increase after all the self-sacrificing
and disinterested work would seem to show clearly the grow-
ing strength of the tendency to remain away from the polls
on election day.

Led by our example, country after country in various
parts of the world has adopted a representative form of gov-
ernment and extended its franchise for the election of
parliamentary bodies. There was a time when America
led the world in getting out the vote. It is not pleasant

RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN 385

to find that now we have dropped far behind some of the
other nations in our participation in popular elections. We
are told that 82 per cent of the men and women qualified
to vote went to the polls in the parliamentary elections in
England and Wales in 1922. The British electorate is
maintaining a voting average of 60 per cent better than
ours. In Germany in 1920 the vote approximated 75 per
cent of the total electorate. And it is estimated that in
1924 this was increased to 82 per cent. In 1921 in Canada,
in voting for members of the lower House of Parliament,
a little over 70 per cent of the voting population partici-
pated. Over a period of 21 years Australia has maintained
an average of somewhat better than 70 per cent. The per-
centage in Italy in 1923 was 64.

The perilous aspect of this situation lies in its insidious-
ness. With the broadening of popular powers, the direct
election of practically all public officials, and the direct
nomination of most of them, there is no opportunity for 1m
expression of the public will except at the ballot box. It is
perfectly evident that all those who have selfish interests
will go to the polls and will be active and energetic in se-
curing support for their proposals and their candidates.
The average voter supports what he believes to be the pub-
lic interest. Unless they appear on election day that inter-
est will go unrepresented.

As our resources increase, as the relationship between
individuals becomes more intricate, the Government be-
comes more and more important. We do not need to fear
a frontal attack upon it. Whenever the public scents that
it is in danger, they will be quick enough to give it ade-
quate support. It is only the approach of some silent and
unrecognized peril that needs to give us alarm. Such a
situation will develop if the Government ceases to repre-
sent the people because the public has become inarticulate.
We are placing our reliance on the principle of self-govern-

386 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ment. We expect there will be mistakes, but they will be
the mistakes which the people themselves make, because
they control their own Government. But if the people
fail to vote, a government will be developed which is not
their government.

This is not a partisan question, but a patriotic question.
Your society, which is organized "to cherish, maintain, and
extend the institutions of American freedom," may well
take a leading part in arousing public sentiment to the peril
that arises when the average citizen fails to vote. The
women of the country ought to be especially responsive to
an appeal from you. I feel quite certain that with the men
it would be almost irresistible. The American people have
been especially responsive in meeting the requirements of
taxation. They ought to be even more responsive in meet-
ing the requirements of voting. The whole system of Amer-
ican Government rests on the ballot box. Unless citizens
perform their duties there, such a system of government
is doomed to failure.

LXTYVV

XXXIV

The strength and hope of civilization lies in its
power to adapt itself to changing circumstances.
Development and character are not passive ac-
complishments. They can be secured only
through action. The strengthening of the phys-
ical body, the sharpening of the senses, the
quickening of the intellect, are all the result of
that mighty effort which we call the struggle for
existence.

TRAINING YOUTH FOR CHARACTER

The strength and hope of civilization lies in its power
to adapt itself to changing circumstances. Development and
character are not passive accomplishments. They can be
secured only through action. The strengthening of the
physical body, the sharpening of the senses, the quicken-
ing of the intellect, are all the result of that mighty effort
which we call the struggle for existence. Down through
the ages it was carried on for the most part in the open,
out in the fields, along the streams, and over the surface
of the sea. It was there that mankind met the great strug-
gle which has been waged with the forces of nature. We
are what that struggle has made us. When the race ceases
to be engaged in that great strength-giving effort the race
will not be what it is now — it will change to something
else. These age-old activities or their equivalent are vital
to a continuation of human development. They are in-
valuable in the growth and training of youth.

Towns and cities and industrial life are very recent and
modern acquirements. Such an environment did not con-
tribute to the making of the race, nor was it bred in the
lap of present-day luxury. It was born of adversity and
nurtured by necessity. Though the environment has greatly
changed, human nature has not changed. If the same
natural life in the open requiring something of the same
struggle, surrounded by the same elements of adversity and
necessity, is gradually passing away in the experience of
the great mass of the people; if the old struggle with na-

Address before the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America,
Washington, D. C, May 1, 1926.

389

390 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

ture no longer goes on; if the usual environment has been
very largely changed, it becomes exceedingly necessary
that an artificial environment be created to supply the
necessary process for a continuation of the development
and character of the race. The cinder track must be sub-
stituted for the chase.

Art therefore has been brought in to take the place of
nature. One of the great efforts in that direction is rep-
resented by the Boy Scout movement. It was founded in
the United States in 1910. In September of that year the
organization was given a great impetus by the visit of the
man whom we are delighted to honor this evening, Sir
Robert Baden-Powell. This distinguished British general
is now known all over the world as the originator of this
idea. That it has been introduced into almost every civil-
ized country must be to him a constant source of great
gratification. The first annual meeting was held in the
East Room of the White House in February, 1911, when
President Taft made an address, and each of his successors
has been pleased to serve as the honorary president of the
association. It has been dignified by a Federal charter
granted by the Congress to the Boy Scouts of America in
1916, and thereby ranks in the popular mind with the only
two other organizations which have been similarly honored,
the Red Cross and the American Legion.

The Boy Scouts have been fortunate in enlisting the in-
terest of prominent men of our country to serve as the
active head of the organization. For the current year that
position was held by no less a figure thari the late James
J. Storrow. His untimely taking off was a sad experience to
all of us who knew him. I cherished him personally as a
friend. I admired him for the broad public spirit that he
always exhibited. Amid all the varied and exacting ac-
tivities as one of our foremost business men, he yet found
time to devote his thought and energy and personal atten-

TRAINING YOUTH FOR CHARACTER 391

tion to the advancement of this movement. His memory
will constantly bring to us all that sentiment which he ut-
tered in the New Year message that he gave to the scouts,
in expressing the hope that it might bring "A more vivid
realization that it is the spirit and the spiritual sides of
life that count."

The more I have studied this movement, its inception,
purposes, organization, and principles, the more I have been
impressed. Not only is it based on the fundamental rules
of right thinking and acting but it seems to embrace in its
code almost every virtue needed in the personal and social
life of mankind. It is a wonderful instrument for good.
It is an inspiration to you whose duty and privilege it is
to widen its horizon and extend its influence. If every
boy in the United States between the ages of twelve and
seventeen could be placed under the wholesome influences of
the scout program and should live up to the scout oath and
rules, we would hear fewer pessimistic words as to the future
of our Nation.

The boy on becoming a scout binds himself on his honor
to do his best, as the oath reads :

"1. To do my duty to God and my country, and to obey
the scout law.

"2. To help other people at all times.

"3. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake,
and morally straight."

The twelve articles in these scout laws are not prohibi-
tions, but obligations; affirmative rules of conduct. Mem-
bers must promise to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean,
and reverent. How comprehensive this list! What a for-
mula for developing moral and spiritual character! What
an opportunity for splendid service in working to strengthen
their observance by all scouts and to extend their influence

392 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

to all boys eligible for membership ! It would be a perfect
world if everyone exemplified these virtues in daily life.

Acting under these principles, remarkable progress has
been made. Since 1910, 3,000,000 boys in the United States
have been scouts — one out of every seven eligible. Who
can estimate the physical, mental, and spiritual force that
would have been added to our national life during this period
if the other six also had been scouts?

On January 1, 1926, there was an enrollment of nearly
600,000 boys, directed by 165,000 volunteer leaders and di-
vided among 23,000 troops. Such is the field that has been
cultivated. The great need now is for more leaders, in-
spired for service and properly equipped to carry out the
program. It is estimated that 1,000,000 additional boys
could be enrolled immediately if adequate leadership could
be provided. We can not do too much honor to the 500,000
men who in the past sixteen years have given freely of their
time and energy as scout masters and assistant scout mas-
ters. Such service is service to God and to country. The
efforts to get more devoted volunteers and to find and
train those fitted and willing to make this their life work
is worthy of the most complete success.

Because the principles of this movement are affirmative,
I believe they are sound. The boy may not be merely
passive in his allegiance to righteousness. He must be an
active force in his home, his church and his community.
Too few people have a clear realization of the real purposes
of the Boy Scouts. In the popular mind the program is
arranged for play, for recreation, is designed solely to utilize
the spare time of the boy in such a way that he may develop
physically while engaged in pleasurable pursuits. This is
but a faint conception, one almost wholly misleading. The
program is a means to an end. Its fundamental object is
to use modern environment in character building and train-
ing for citizenship.

TRAINING YOUTH FOR CHARACTER 393

Character is what a person is; it represents the aggregate
of distinctive mental and moral qualities belonging to an in-
dividual or a race. Good character means a mental and
moral fiber of high order, one which may be woven into
the fabric of the community and State, going to make a
great nation — great in the broadest meaning of that word.

The organization of the scouts is particularly suitable for
a representative democracy such as ours, where our institu-
tions rest on the theory of self-government and public func-
tions are exercised through delegated authority. The boys
are taught to practice the basic virtues and principles of
right living and to act for themselves in according with
such virtues and principles. They learn self-direction and
self-control.

The organization is not intended to take the place of
the home or religion, but to supplement and cooperate with
those important factors, in our national life. We hear
much talk of the decline in the influence of religion, of the
loosening of the home ties, of the lack of discipline — all
tending to break down reverence and respect for the laws
of God and of man. Such thought as I have been able to
give to the subject and such observations as have come
within my experience have convinced me that there is
no substitute for the influences of the home and of re-
ligion. These take hold of the innermost nature of the
individual and play a very dominant part in the formation
of personality and character. This most necessary and
most valuable service has to be performed by the parents,
or it is not performed at all. It is the root of the family
life. Nothing else can ever take its place. These duties
can be performed by foster parents with partial success,
but any attempt on the part of the Government to function
in these directions breaks down almost entirely. The Boy
Scout movement can never be a success as a substitute but
only as an ally of strict parental control and family life un-

394 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

der religious influences. Parents can not shift their re-
sponsibility. If they fail to exercise proper control, nobody
else can do it for them.

The last item in the scout "duodecalogue" is impressive.
It declares that a scout shall be reverent. "He is reverent
toward God," the paragraph reads. "He is faithful in his re-
ligious duties, and respects the convictions of others in mat-
ters of custom and religion." In the past I have declared
my conviction that our Government rests upon religion;
that religion is the source from which we derive our rever-
ence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for
the rights of mankind. So wisely and liberally is the Boy
Scout movement designed that the various religious de-
nominations have found it a most helpful agency in arousing
and maintaining interest in the work of their various so-
cieties. This has helped to emphasize in the minds of
youth the importance of teaching our boys to respect the
religious opinions and social customs of others.

The scout theory takes the boy at an age when he is
apt to get ensnared in the complexities and false values of
our latter-day life, and it turns his attention toward the
simple, the natural, the genuine. It provides a program
for the utilization of his spare time outside his home and
school and church duties. While ofttimes recreational, it
is in the best sense constructive. It aims to give a useful
outlet for the abundant energies of the boy, to have valu-
able knowledge follow innate curiosity, to develop skill and
self-reliance — the power to bring things to pass — by teach-
ing one how to use both the hand and the head. In the
city-bred boy is developed love for the country, a realiza-
tion of what nature means, of its power to heal the wounds
and to soothe the frayed nerves incident to modern civil-
ization. He learns that in the woods and on the hillside, on
the plain, and by the stream, he has a chance to think upon
the eternal verities, to get a clarity of vision — a chance

TRAINING YOUTH FOR CHARACTER 395

which the confusion and speed of city life too often renders
difficult if not impossible of attainment. There is a very
real value in implanting this idea in our boys. When they
take up the burdens of manhood they may be led to return
to the simple life for periods of physical, mental, and spir-
itual refreshment and reinvigoration.

Scouting very definitely teaches that rewards come only
after achievement through personal effort and self-disci-
pline. The boy enters as a tenderfoot. As he develops he
becomes a second-class scout and then a first-class scout.
Still there is before him the opportunity, in accordance
with ability and hard work, to advance and get merit badges
for proficiency in some seventy subjects pertaining to the
arts, trades, and sciences. It is interesting to learn that in
the year 1925, 195,000 merit badges were awarded as com-
pared with 140,000 in 1924. Twenty-one such awards make
the boy an "eagle scout/' the highest rank. Not only does
one learn to do things, but in many instances he learns what
he can do best. He is guided to his life work. Vocational
experts will tell you in dollars and cents what this means
to society where so often much valuable time and effort is
wasted by the young before they have tested, proven, and
trained their individual powers.

The boy learns "to be prepared." This is the motto of
the scouts. They are prepared to take their proper place
in life, prepared to meet any unusual situation arising in
their personal or civic relations. The scout is taught to be
courageous and self-sacrificing. Individually he must do
one good deed each day. He is made to understand that he
is a part of organized society; that he owes an obligation
to that society. Among the many activities in which the
scouts have rendered public service are those for the pro-
tection of birds and wild life generally, for the conservation
of natural resources, reforestation, for carrying out the
"Safety first" idea. They have taken part in campaigns

396 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

for church cooperation, in drives against harmful literature,
and the promotion of an interest in wholesome, worth-
while reading. In many communities they have cooperated
with the police and fire departments. In some instances
they have studied the machinery of government by tem-
porary and volunteer participation in the city and State
administration. During the war they helped in the Liberty
Loan campaigns, and more recently they have assisted in
"Get-out-the-vote" movements.

All of this is exceedingly practical. It provides a method
both for the training of youth and adapting him to mod-
ern life. The age-old principle of education through action
and character through effort is well exemplified, but in ad-
dition the very valuable element has been added of a train-
ing for community life. It has been necessary for society
to discard some of its old individualistic tendencies and
promote a larger liberty and a more abundant life by coop-
erative effort. This theory has been developed under the
principle of the division of labor, but the division of labor
fails completely if any one of the divisions ceases to func-
tion.

It is well that boys should learn that lesson at an early
age. Very soon they will be engaged in carrying on the
work of the world. Some will enter the field of transporta-
tion, some of banking, some of industry, some of agricul-
ture; some will be in the public service, in the police de-
partment, in the fire department, in the Post Office De-
partment, in the health department. The public welfare,
success, and prosperity of the Nation will depend upon
the proper coordination of all these various efforts and upon
each loyally performing the service undertaken. It will no
longer do for those who have assumed the obligation to so-
ciety of carrying on these different functions to say that as
a body they are absolutely free and independent and re-
sponsible to no one but themselves. The public interest

TRAINING YOUTH FOR CHARACTER 397

is greater than the interest of any one of these groups, and
it is absolutely necessary that this interest be made supreme.
But there is just as great a necessity on the part of the
public to see that each of these groups is justly treated.
Otherwise, government and society will be thrown into
chaos. On each one of us rests a moral obligation to do
our share of the world's work. We have no right to refuse.

The training of the Boy Scouts fits them to an early
realization of this great principle and adapts them in habits
and thoughts and life to its observances. We know too
well what fortune overtakes those who attempt to live in
opposition to these standards. They become at once right-
fully and truly branded as outlaws. However much they
may boast of their freedom from all restraints and their dis-
regard of all conventionalities of society, they are immedi-
ately the recognized foes of their brethren. Their short
existence is lived under greater and greater restrictions, in
terror of the law, in flight from arrest, or in imprisonment.
Instead of gaining freedom, they became the slaves of their
own evil doing, realizing the scriptural assertion that they
who sin are the servants of sin and that the wages of sin
is death. The Boy Scout movement has been instituted in
order that the youth, instead of falling under the domina-
tion of habits and actions that lead only to destruction,
may come under the discipline of a training that leads to
eternal life. They learn that they secure freedom and
prosperity by observing the law.

This is but one of the many organizations that are work-
ing for good in our country. Some of them have a racial
basis, some a denominational basis. All of them in their
essence are patriotic and religious. Their steady growth
and widening influence go very far to justify our faith in the
abiding fitness of things. We can not deny that there are
evil forces all about us, but a critical examination of what
is going on in the world can not fail to justify the belief

398 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

that wherever these powers of evil may be located, how-
ever great may be their apparent extent, they are not real-
ities, and somewhere there is developing an even greater
power of good by which they will be overcome.

We need a greater faith in the strength of right living.
We need a greater faith in the power of righteousness.
These are the realities which do not pass away. On these
everlasting principles rests the movement of the Boy Scouts
of America. It is one of the growing institutions by which
our country is working out the fulfillment of an eternal
promise.

XXXV

No method of procedure has ever been devised
by which liberty could be divorced from local
self-government. No plan of centralization has
ever been adopted which did not result in bu-
reaucracy, tyranny, inflexibility, reaction, and
decline.

nv.

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY

Fellow Americans:

No one who is interested in the early beginnings of
America, or who is moved by love of our country, could
come into these historic and hallowed surroundings without
being conscious of a deep sense of reverence. In a land
which is rich in the interesting records of the past, that
portion of Virginia lying between Washington and Nor-
folk stands out unrivaled in important events and great
names. Colonial importance, Revolutionary fame, the
statesmanship of the early Republic, the great struggle
for the supremacy of the Union — these epoch-making stories
can not be told without relating the history of this locality
and recounting the eminence of its illustrious sons. Very
much of this narrative centers around the venerable town
of Williamsburg and the old college of William and Mary.

Within this locality are Jamestown, where the English
settlements began, and Yorktown, where English dominion
ended. From Petersburg to Arlington stretches a land
marked by many battle fields where the shedding of fra-
ternal blood rededicated the Constitution. Here began the
first preparation within our country for the establishment
of a college. But the unfortunate interruption of hostile
natives deferred the completion of the project, so that this
institution ranks second in age with all our other uni-
versities. Here are the three capitals of this sovereign
Commonwealth. If the work which is represented by the
great names which have been associated with the growth

Address at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., May
15, 1926.

401

402 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

and strength of this region were struck from the annals
of our country, the richest heritage of progress and fame
that ever glorified the actions of a people would sink to
comparative poverty. What a wealth of distinguished fig-
ures from the time of John Smith down to the present day !
I can not relate them all, these statesmen and soldiers, these
founders and benefactors, who here lived and wrought with
so much of enduring glory. They are represented by such
stalwart characters as Patrick Henry, George Mason, Rich-
ard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.
Later came Monroe, Marshall, Madison, Randolph, and
Harrison, with a long list of associates almost equally emi-
nent in the history of our country. All Americans. It
was into this region that Abraham Lincoln made his last
journey from Washington.

This richest of all our historical settings made so great
an appeal to me when I was approached by your two dis-
tinguished Senators, Mr. Swanson and Mr. Glass, whom I
cherish as friends, honor for their devotion to their country,
and esteem for the support they have often given when we
have been mutually striving for sound government, bearing
the invitation of your General Assembly to participate in
the observance of this day, which was supported by
Col. Henry W. Anderson, a lawyer who has contributed so
much of his great learning and talents to the service of
his country, and emphasized by my former secretary,
Mr. Slemp, for many years a prominent leader in Congress,
a man whose loyalty and devotion has imposed upon me so
much obligation, that it seemed almost a patriotic duty to
respond.

It is difficult to determine where or when the great move-
ments in human progress had their original inception. Our
life is complex and interwoven with thousands of varying
motives and cross currents. One act leads to another.
Yet certain actions stand out with so much prominence

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY 403

against the background of the past that we are justified
in saying of them that at least there is an event which
is one of the beginnings of a new epoch. In accordance
with this standard, we are altogether warranted in assert-
ing that 150 years ago, on the 15th of May, 1776, formal
action was taken in this city by a patriotic band of loyal
Virginians, in their public capacity as servants of the com-
mon cause of the American Colonies, which had a most
direct influence in leading to the Declaration of Independ-
ence.

It is not necessary at this time to relate again the vari-
ous events that preceded and caused the American Revo-
lution. The people of this Commonwealth had been con-
stantly alert in the assertion and maintenance of their con-
stitutional rights against British encroachment. Under the
lead of Samuel Adams, the Boston town meeting in May,
1764, adopted resolutions against the proposed stamp tax,
but the first formal defiance of that act after its passage
came from Virginia, when in May, 1765, Patrick Henry
introduced a series of resolutions in the Assembly declar-
ing that the only power of taxation lay in the people them-
selves, or in their chosen representatives.

Again, in May, 1769, the House of Burgesses, numbering
among its membership Washington, Henry, and Jefferson,
condemned the laws of Parliament taxing the Colonies and
requested other Colonies to join them in this protest. When
the governor took the disciplinary measure of adjourning
them, they met at the Raleigh Tavern, where Washington
prepared a resolution pledging themselves to continue the
policy of non-importation, which was adopted. Also in
March, 1773, the Virginia Assembly unanimously voted to
establish a system of intercolonial committees of corre-
spondence. As great an authority as John Fiske calls this
"the most decided step toward revolution that had yet
been taken by the Americans." This original suggestion

404 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

appears to have come from the eminent divine Jonathan
Mayhew, who suggested to James Otis that the communion
of churches furnished an excellent example for a com-
munion of Colonies. Again, late in 1772, a Boston town
meeting had taken the lead in adopting a committee for
correspondence for the Colony of Massachusetts, and Sam-
uel Adams wrote to Richard Henry Lee, who had a^eady
expressed the same idea, urging a like action for Virginia.
But in March, 1773, this Colony had already anticipated
that course and enlarged upon it by making it an inter-
colonial committee. The convocation of such a body would
result in the setting up of a Congress which would rep-
resent the united authority of the Colonies. Events moved
rapidly, and in the closing days of 1775, incensed by his
tyranny, a body of patriots, including John Marshall, drove
Lord Dunmore, the governor, out of Norfolk, a place of
9,000 inhabitants, and took possession. In retaliation the
governor set fire to the town by shells from the harbor
on New Year's Day, and it was consumed.

Confirming my statement that it is difficult to date and
locate the exact beginning of any event, we find that on
the 22nd of April the people of Cumberland County adopted
a resolution prepared by Carter Henry Harrison instructing
their delegates to the Virginia Convention, which was to
meet in this town in May, "positively to declare for an in-
dependency" and to "promote in our convention an instruc-
tion to our delegates now sitting in Continental Congress
to do the same." A like sentiment was being unofficially,
though publicly, expressed in other counties. On the 20th
of April Lee wrote from the Congress in Philadelphia to
Henry to propose in the coming convention a separation of
the Colonies from Great Britain.

It was on the 6th of May, 1776, that there assembled at
Williamsburg a convention which was to become historic.
It was presided over by Edmund Pendleton, who had op-

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY 405

posed the stamp act resolutions of Patrick Henry, but eleven
years and the wanton cruelty of the royal governor had
made a great change in the public opinion of the Colony,
and he had become a loyal supporter of independence. He
now joined with Patrick Henry and Meriwether Smith in
drafting resolutions to be prosposed by Thomas Nelson,
which refer to our country as "America," and after setting
out the grievances that it had endured and "appealing to
the Searcher of Hearts for the sincerity of former declara-
tions" and a discussion in which Mason and Madison, to
be known to future fame, took part, on the 15th of May,
1776, it was

"Resolved unanimously, That the delegates appointed to
represent this Colony in General Congress be instructed to
propose to that respectable body to declare the United
Colonies free and independent States, absolved from all
allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown or Parlia-
ment of Great Britain; and that they give the assent of
this Colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures
may be thought proper and necessary by the Congress for
forming foreign alliances, and a confederation of the Col-
onies, at such time, and in the manner, as to them shall
seem best: Provided, That the power of forming govern-
ment for, and the regulation of the internal concerns of
each Colony, be left to respective colonial legislatures.

Resolved unanimously, That a committee be appointed
to prepare a declaration of rights, and such a plan of gov-
ernment as will be most likely to maintain peace and order
in this Colony and secure substantial and equal liberty
to the people."

The import of these resolutions was well understood in
this locality. The event was marked that evening by a
celebration, the ringing of bells, and the firing of guns.
The British flag went down at the statehouse never to rise

406 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

again, and in its place was flown the crosses and stripes,
the temporary emblem of a new government.

These resolutions coming by the action of the duly con-
stituted representatives of the largest of the Colonies were
of an importance that can not be described as anything
less than decisive in the movement for independence.
Other localities held the same opinions, but this action of
the Old Dominion was needed to make such opinions
effective. Richard Henry Lee now had the assurance of
the support of his constituents. On the 7th of June he
moved the Congress —

"That these United States are, and of right ought to be,
free and independent States; that they are absolved from
all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that it is expedient
forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming
foreign alliances; that a plan of confederation be prepared
and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their con-
sideration and approbation."

This motion was at once seconded by John Adams, of
Massachusetts. In this great crisis the Pilgrim and the
Cavalier stood side by side united in the common cause of
human liberty under constitutional law.

The excellence of the official documents of the Revolu-
tionary period has often been remarked. It was such as
to draw praise from the foremost British statesmen. In
that respect the Virginia resolution of May 15 left little
to be desired. They are characterized by a most admirable
restraint, clear and logical in their presentation of facts,
and clothed in appropriate language. They have a dignity
and strength that are compelling and a courage and re-
serve that are convincing. They were composed by no or-
dinary men. Such a document could only be produced by
character and culture. The influences which had flowed

IUW

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY 407

from the eighty-odd years of existence of William and Mary
College can not be separated from the form and substance
of these resolutions. Into their making went all that was
best of some of her most distinguished sons.

What purpose had planted these institutions of learn-
ing in the American wilderness? What raised up Harvard,
that it might become the teacher of Otis and Hancock and
the Adamses? What nourished William and Mary, that it
might furnish inspiration to Bland, to Wythe, to Nelson,
and to Jefferson? These two seminaries had a common
benefactor in the famous Robert Boyle. And when the
wanton ravages of war reduced this once flourishing insti-
tution that had spoken so boldly in the cause of liberty to
a state that left little but the vibrant tones of the college
bell and the fervent prayers of a devout President, it was
a distinguished son of Harvard, Senator Hoar, who plead
her just cause with such eloquence in the Halls of Con-
gress that a dilatory Government at last made restitution
for a part of the damage done, that this seat of learning
might be restored to take its active place again as a citadel
of truth and liberty and righteousness. No one can con-
template these events without a deep realization that those
who participated in them were guided by an inspired vision.

It has not been the experience of history that political
ideals spring into full development all at once. They are
the process of the discipline of a long and severe training
and constant and continued study. The Virginia resolu-
tions in the fewest possible words map out a course of ac-
tion and lay down the fundamental principles by which
America has since sought to guide and direct its political
life. The members of the convention, however, would not
have argued that they were embarking upon a new theory
of political relationship with so much assurance as they
would have contended that they were adapting well-estab-
lished theories of constitutional law to their own condition.

408 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

They declared for complete independence. They abjured
both the Crown and the Parliament of Great Britain.
Much emphasis has been placed on our political independ-
ence. It has become one of our most fundamental tradi-
tions of government, and rightly so. In our domestic af-
fairs our sovereignty rises to its most complete state. We
tolerate no outside interference. But as the devout May-
hew had seen the communion of colonies in the com-
munion of churches, so these resolutions, even though un-
consciously, recognized a communion of nations when they
authorized the forming of foreign alliances. They could not
escape the conclusion that as the individual derives his
liberty from an observance of the law, so nations derive
their independence and perpetuate their sovereignty from
an observance of that comity by which they are all bound.
As modern developments have brought the nations closer
and closer together, this conclusion has become more and
more unavoidable. While the rights of the citizen have
been in no wise diminished, the rights of humanity have
been very greatly increased. Our country holds to politi-
cal and economic independence, but it holds to cooperation
and combination in the administration of justice.

The resolutions did not fail to recognize the principle of
nationality. It was the "United Colonies" that they pro-
posed should be declared independent, and it distinctly au-
thorized "a Confederation of the Colonies." This was an
early and authoritative statement of the theory that this
is all one country bound up in a common interest, des-
tined to the experience of a common fortune. It was the
expression of a desire for a yet unformulated plan for a
Federal Government. How great a part Virginia was to
play in the final adoption of such a Government was by
this action already indicated. When that great test came
some years later it was the known wish of the great Wash-
ington, aided by the superb reasoning powers of Marshall,

BW

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY 409

notwithstanding the direct opposition of Henry, that
caused Virginia to ratify the Federal Constitution at a time
which was again decisive in the formation of the Union.
For a second time the action of this great Commonwealth
was the determining factor in the destiny of America.

It is impossible to lay too much emphasis upon the ne-
cessity of making all our political action of the Federal
Government harmonize with the principle of national unity.
For many years now this course has been greatly impeded
from the fact that those who substantially think alike have
so oftentimes been unable to act alike. Our country ought
to be done with all sectional divisions and all actions based
upon geographical lines. Washington warned us against
that danger in his Farewell Address. Experience has time
and again demonstrated the soundness of his advice and
the breadth of his wisdom. It would be difficult to suggest
anything more likely to enhance the progress of our coun-
try than united political action in all parts of the Nation
in accord with the advice of Washington for the support
and maintenance of those principles of sound economics
and stable constitutional government in which they so
substantially agree. All sections have the same community
of interests, both in theory and in fact, and they ought to
have a community in political action. We can not deny
that we are all Americans. To attempt to proceed upon
any other theory can only end in disaster. No policy can
ever be a success which does not contemplate this as one
country.

The principle that those who think alike ought to be
able to act alike wherever they happen 'to live should be
supplemented by another rule for the continuation of the
contentment and tranquillity of our Republic. The gen-
eral acceptance of our institutions proceeds on the theory
that they have been adopted by the action of a majority.
It is obvious that if those who hold to the same ideals of

410 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

government fail to agree the chances very strongly favor
a rule by a minority. But there is another element of re-
cent development. Direct primaries and direct elections
bring to bear upon the political fortunes of public officials
the greatly disproportionate influence of organized minor-
ities. Artificial propaganda, paid agitators, selfish inter-
ests, all impinge upon members of legislative bodies to force
them to represent special elements rather than the great
body of their constituency. When they are successful mi-
nority rule is established, and the result is an extravagance
on the part of the Government which is ruinous to the
people and a multiplicity of regulations and restrictions for
the conduct of all kinds of necessary business, which be-
comes little less than oppressive. Not only is this one
country, but we must keep all its different parts in harmony
by refusing to adopt legislation which is not for the general
welfare.

The resolutions did not stop here. Had they done so,
they would have been very far from comprehending and
expressing the necessities of the American people. They
went on to provide that "the regulation of the internal
concerns of each colony be left to respective colonial legis-
latures." This was a plain declaration of the unassailable
fact that the States are the sheet anchors of our institu-
tions. If the Federal Government should go out of exist-
ence, the common run of people would not detect the dif-
ference in the affairs of their daily life for a considerable
length of time. But if the authority of the States were
struck down disorder approaching chaos would be upon
us within twenty-four hours. No method of procedure has
ever been devised by which liberty could be divorced from
local self-government. No plan of centralization has ever
been adopted which did not result in bureaucracy, tyranny,
inflexibility, reaction, and decline. Of all forms of gov-
ernment, those administered by bureaus are about the least

Eft

STATES RIGHTS AND NATIONAL UNITY 411

satisfactory to an enlightened and progressive people. Be-
ing irresponsible they become autocratic, and being auto-
cratic they resist all development. Unless bureaucracy is
constantly resisted it breaks down representative govern-
ment and overwhelms democracy. It is the one element in
our institutions that sets up the pretense of having au-
thority over everybody and being responsible to nobody.

While we ought to glory in the Union and remember
that it is the source from which the States derive their
chief title to fame, we must also recognize that the na-
tional administration is not and can not be adjusted to the
needs of local government. It is too far away to be in-
formed of local needs, too inaccessible to be responsive to
local conditions. The States should not be induced by
coercion or by favor to surrender the management of their
own affairs. The Federal Government ought to resist the
tendency to be loaded up with duties which the States
should perform. It does not follow that because some-
thing ought to be done the National Government ought
to do it. But, on the other hand, when the great body of
public opinion of the Nation requires action the States
ought to understand that unless they are responsive to such
sentiment the national authority will be compelled to in-
tervene. The doctrine of State rights is not a privilege to
continue in wrong-doing but a privilege to be free from
interference in well-doing. This Nation is bent on progress.
It has determined on the policy of meting out justice be-
tween man and man. It has decided to extend the blessing
of an enlightened humanity. Unless the States meet these
requirements, the National Government reluctantly will be
crowded into the position of enlarging its own authority
at their expense. I want to see the policy adopted by the
States of discharging their public functions so faithfully
that instead of an extension on the part of the Federal Gov-
ernment there can be a contraction.

412 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

These principles of independence, of the integrity of
the Union, and of local self-government have not dimin-
ished in their importance since they were so clearly recog-
nized and faithfully declared in the Virginia convention of
150 years ago. We may wonder at their need of constant
restatement, reiteration, and defense. But the fact is that
the principles of government have the same need to be
fortified, reinforced, and supported that characterize the
principles of religion. After enumerating many of the
spiritual ideals, the Scriptures enjoin us to "think on these
things." If we are to maintain the ideals of government,
it is likewise necessary that we "think on these things."
It is for this purpose that educational institutions exist and
important anniversaries are observed.

Each generation has its problems. The days of the
Revolution had theirs, and we have ours. They were
making an advance in the art of government which, while
it has been broadened in its application, has not changed
and does not seem likely to change from the fundamental
principles which they established. We are making our ad-
vance and our contribution to the betterment of the eco-
nomic condition and the broader realization of the human-
ities in the life of the world. They were mostly bent on
seeing what they could put into the Government; we are
mostly bent on seeing what we can get out of it. They
broke the power of Parliament because its actions did not
represent, were not benefiting the American public. They
established institutions guaranteed under a reign of law
where liberty and justice and the public welfare would be
supreme. Amid all the contentions of the present day
nothing is more important to secure the continuation of
what they wrought than a constant and vigilant resistance
to the domination of selfish and private interests in the
affairs of government in order that liberty and justice may
still be secure and the public welfare may still be supreme.

XXXVI

Great men are the product of a great people.

JOHN ERICSSON

It is one of the glories of our country that we all have
the privilege of being Americans. Some of us were born
here of an ancestry that has lived here for generations.
Others of us were born abroad and brought here at a tender
age, or have come to these shores as a result of mature
choice. But when once our feet have touched this soil,
when once we have made this land our home, wherever our
place of birth, whatever our race, we are all blended in one
common country. All artificial distinctions of lineage and
rank are cast aside. We all rejoice in the title of Ameri-
cans. But this is not done by discarding the teachings and
beliefs or the character which have contributed to the
strength and progress of the peoples from which our vari-
ous strains derived their origin, but rather from the accept-
ance of all their good qualities and their adaptation to the
requirements of our institutions. None of those who come
here are required to leave any good qualities behind, but
they are rather required to strengthen and fortify them
and supplement them with such additional good qualities
as they find among us.

While it is eminently proper for us to glory in our
origin and to cherish with pride the contributions which
our race has made to the common progress of humanity,
we can not put too much emphasis on the fact that in this
country we are all bound together in a common destiny.
We must all be united as one people. This principle works
both ways. As we do not recognize any inferior races, so

At the dedication of the statue of John Ericsson at Washington, May
29, 1926.

415

416 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

we do not recognize any superior races. We all stand on
an equality of rights and of opportunity, each deriving just
honor from his own worth and accomplishments. It is
not, then, for the purpose of setting one people above
another that we assemble here to-day to do reverence to
the memory of a great son of Sweden, but rather to glory in
the name of John Ericsson and his race as a preeminent ex-
ample of the superb contribution which has been made by
many different nationalities to the cause of our country.
We honor him most of all because we can truly say he was
a great American.

Great men are the product of a great people. The
are the result of many generations of effort, toil, and dis-
cipline. They do not stand by themselves; they are more
than an individual. They are the incarnation of the spirit
of a people. We should fail in our understanding of Erics-
son unless we first understand the Swedish people both as
they have developed in the land of their origin and as they
have matured in the land of their adoption.

Sweden is a country where existence has not been easy.
Lying up under the Arctic Circle, its climate is tinged with
frost, its landscape is rugged, its soil yields grudgingly to
the husbandman, so that down through the centuries its
people have been inured to hardship. These external con-
ditions have contributed to the strength, the.greatness, and
the character of that little nation which even now numbers
scarcely 6,000,000 people. Independence, courage, resource-
fulness have marked the race since we read of them in Taci-
tus and Ptolemy. The meagerness of their soil drove them
to the sea; their natural characteristic drove them to ad-
venture. Their sea rovers touched all known shores and
ventured far into the unknown, making conquests that have
had a broad influence upon succeeding European history.
At an early period they were converted to the Christian
faith and their natural independence made them early

JOHN ERICSSON 417

responsive to the Protestant Reformation, in which their
most famous king, Gustavus Adolphus, "The Lion of the
North," was one of the most militant figures in the move-
ment for a greater religious freedom. It was under this
great leader that plans were first matured to establish a
colony in this country for purposes of trade and in order
that the natives, as was set out in the charter, might be
"made more civilized and taught morality and the Christian
religion * * * besides the further propagation of the Holy
Gospel."

While it was under a new charter that a Swedish colony
finally reached the Delaware in 1638, they never lost sight
of their original purpose, but among other requests kept
calling on the mother country for ministers, Bibles, and
Psalm books. Forty-one clergymen came to America prior
to 1779. One of the historians of this early settlement as-
serts that these colonists* laid the basis for a religious struc-
ture, built the first flour mills, the first ships, the first brick-
yards, and made the first roads, while they introduced hor-
ticulture and scientific forestry into this Delaware region.

It was not until after 1843, when the restrictions on leav-
ing their own country were removed, that the large move-
ment of Swedish immigrants began, which with their de-
scendants are now estimated at nearly 2,000,000 people.
Stretching into our Northwestern States they have cut
down the forests and brought the wide prairies under culti-
vation over an area of more than 10,000,000 acres. The
building of nearly 2,000 churches and nearly as many
schools stands to their credit. They have established about
twenty higher institutions of learning ; set up a large number
of charitable organizations and more than a thousand so-
cieties for public welfare and mutual benefit; written thou-
sands of books and published hundreds of newspapers,
among which are some of the leading journals of the coun-
try. Always as soon as they have provided shelter for them-

418 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

selves they have turned to build places of religious worship
and founded institutions of higher learning with the orig-
inal purpose of training clergymen and teachers. Augus-
tana College, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Bethany
College are seminaries of learning which stand to their
credit.

Though few in numbers during the period of our Revo-
lutionary War, they supported the Colonial cause and it has
been said that King Gustavus III, writing to a friend, de-
clared "If I were not King I would proceed to America and
offer my sword on behalf of the brave Colonies." One
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was John
Morten or Mortenson, and it has been claimed that Betsy
Ross was of Swedish descent. No less than fourteen Swedish
officers served our cause either in the Army or in the French
fleet which took part in the Revolutionary campaigns.
After the close of the war the Swedish minister at Paris
called upon our representative, Benjamin Franklin, and
offered to negotiate a treaty of commerce and amity, thus
making Sweden the first European power which voluntarily
and without solicitation tendered its friendship to the
young Republic. This treaty was ratified by Congress in
July, 1783. The title of "President of the United States
in Congress Assembled" was first held by John Hanson, of
Maryland, in 1781.

As these Americans of Swedish blood have increased in
numbers and taken up the duties of citizenship, they have
been prominent in all ranks of public life. They have been
distinguished in the public service of the States, filling
many of the offices from the governorship down. I shall
name but one of the public officials of the Swedish race
who have served our country so faithfully as representative
of the great legion whose names spring to our thoughts, a
learned lawyer, blessed with great ability, possessed of high
character, a seasoned parliamentarian with a record of

JOHN ERICSSON 419

prominent leadership in the legislature of his own State
and in the Congress of the United States, a man endowed
with the old Norse spirit, a true American, the senior Sena-
tor from Washington, Irvine L. Lenroot. Others of the
race have sat in the National House and Senate and been
prominent at the bar and on the bench. Their painters
were among the earliest and have produced pictures of
great merit; but of all the arts they have been most pro-
ficient in music. Inspired by Jenny Lind and Christina
Nilsson they have as a people given great attention to vocal
music, maintaining famous choral clubs and producing
noted opera singers, displaying also a high degree of talent
as composers.

When Lincoln began his great struggle for the integrity
of the Union this strain was becoming increasingly numer-
ous, and Dr. Amandus Johnson declares that I6y2 per cent
of all Americans of Swedish blood volunteered for service
in the Federal Army. Among those who reached a high
command were General Stolbrand and Rear Admiral Dahl-
gren, while the rank and file maintained the record of fame
for the fighting qualities which from time immemorial have
characterized the race. Such is the background and great-
ness of the Swedish people in the country of their origin
and in America that gave to the world John Ericsson. They
have been characterized by that courage which is the foun-
dation of industry and thrift, that endurance which is the
foundation of military achievement, that devotion to the
home which is the foundation of patriotism, and that rev-
erence for religion which is the foundation of moral power.
They are representative of the process which has been going
on for centuries in many quarters of the globe to develop
a strain of pioneers ready to make their contribution to the
enlightened civilization of America.

The life of this great man is the classic story of the immi-
grant, the early struggle with adversity, the home in a new

420 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

country, the final success. Born in the Province of Vermland
m 1803, at the age of seventeen he entered the army. But
the urge for a wider opportunity for his talents possessed
him, and at twenty-three he went to England. He entered
an engineering firm and always preferred to be considered an
engineer rather than an inventor. The development of
power interested him, and within a year his fertile mind
had begun improvements of far-reaching extent upon boilers
and engines. With that boundless energy which was to
characterize him through life he soon designed the fire
engine and developed the screw propeller for marine use.
It was this new invention which brought him to America
in 1839. His hopes to interest the Federal Government in
this method of navigation were not immediately realized,
but he began constructing propeller boats on the Great
Lakes and started a fleet on the canal between Baltimore
and Philadelphia, which caused the railroad to cut its fare
in two, and where the boat service still keeps the name of
the Ericsson Line. He was soon building a small steam-
boat, called the Princeton, which was the first man-of-war
equipped with a screw propeller and with machinery below
the water line out of reach of shot. In 1876 he described
this vessel as "the foundation of the present steam marine
of the whole world. She revolutionized naval vessels.''
President Tyler and his Cabinet made a trial trip down
the Potomac on this boat, which, although marred by a
fatal accident caused by the bursting of a gun, demon-
strated the desirability and success of this type of warship.
It was therefore no novice but a seasoned and practical
shipbuilder who responded when the Secretary of the Navy,
alarmed at reports of a Confederate ironclad, advertised for
armored ships. This great mechanical genius wrote to
President Lincoln offering to Construct a vessel for the
destruction of the hostile fleet in Norfolk and for scour-

JOHN ERICSSON 421

ing southern rivers and inlets of all craft protected by
southern batteries." He further declared:

"Attachment to the Union alone impels me to offer my
services at this frightful crisis — my life if need be — in the
great cause which Providence has caused you to defend.
* * * It is not for me, sir, to remind you of the immense
moral effect that will result. * * * Nor need I allude to
the effect in Europe, if you demonstrate that you can
effectively drive hostile fleets away from our shores."

This offer was accepted, and as a result a strange new
craft, sometimes described as a cheese box on a raft, steamed
into Hampton Roads late after dark on the day of March
8, 1862. It arrived none too soon, for that morning the
Confederate ironclad Virginia, reconstructed from the Mer-
rimac, began a work of destruction among 16 Federal ves-
sels, carrying 298 guns, located at that point. The Cum-
berland, with 24 guns, was battered to pieces, losing 117 of
its 300 men. The Congress, with 15 guns, was grounded
and set afire, and the Roanoke and Minnesota were badly
damaged and run ashore.

The result was consternation among the Federal author-
ities. A Cabinet member is said to have exclaimed that a
shell from this new engine of destruction might be expected
to fly into the White House at any time. In the South
expectations were entertained of a complete destruction of
the northern ships, the raising of the blockades, the cap-
ture of Washington and other cities, recognition of the Con-
federacy by Europe, and ultimate victory.

When the ironclad Merrimac went out on the morning
of March 9 to complete its work of destruction it was at
once surprised and challenged by this new and extraor-
dinary naval innovation. Speaking before the Naval In-
stitute in 1876, Admiral Luce said that the Monitor "ex-
hibited in a singular manner the old Norse element in
the American Navy." He pointed out that it was Erics-

422 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

son "who built her," Dahlgren "who armed her," and
Worden "who fought her." And well might he add:

"How the ancient Skalds would have struck their wild
harps in hearing such names in heroic verse. How they
would have written them in immortal runes."

After a battle lasting four hours in which the Monitor
suffered no material damage, except from one shell which
hit the observation opening in the pilot house, temporarily
blinding Lieutenant Worden, the commanding officer, the
Merrimac, later reported to have been badly crippled, with-
drew, never to venture out again to meet her conqueror.

The old spirit of the Vikings, becoming American, had
again triumphed in a victory no less decisive of future events
than when it had hovered over the banner of William the
Conqueror. It did for the Union cause on the sea what
the Battle of Gettysburg later was to do for it on land. If
some of the European countries had any serious thought
of joining with the South, such intentions were speedily
abandoned. That engagement revealed that in the future
all wooden navies would be of little avail. The London
Times stated that the day before this momentous battle
England had 149 first-class warships. The day after she
had but two, and they were iron-plated only amidships
Naval warfare had been revolutionized. The great genius
of Ericsson had brought about a new era in naval con-
struction. Naval authorities now recognize the armored
vessel which he sent into action as "the germ of the modern
battleship," and behold in "the modern dreadnought the
glorified Monitor"

Great as were these achievements, they are scarcely
greater than those which marked the engineering and in-
ventive abilities of this great man, which were to benefit
the industry, commerce, and transportation of the country.
He was a lover of peace, not war. He was devoted to jus-
tice and freedom and was moved by an abiding love of

JOHN ERICSSON 423

America, of which he had become a citizen in 1848. He
had a peculiar horror of slavery. In 1882 he wrote to a
United States Senator:

"Nothing could induce me to accept any remuneration
from the United States for the Monitor once presented by
me as my contribution to the glorious Union cause, the
triumph of which freed 4,000,000 bondsmen."

Ericsson continued his labors in his profession with
great diligence, even into his eighty-sixth year, when he
passed away at his home in New York City on the 8th
of March, 1889, the anniversary of the arrival of the
Monitor in Hampton Roads. At the request of the Royal
United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, all that was
mortal of the great engineer was restored to his native
land during the following year. Although he had not
returned during his lifetime, he always remembered with
the keenest affection the people of his native land. The
high estimate he placed upon their character led him at
one time to say:

"It is with true satisfaction I now recall to memory the
time when I associated and exchanged thoughts with the
energetic youth of Norrland. Without disparaging other
nations, I must say that the perseverance, sense of right,
and clear heads of these youths place them far beyond the
young men of the working class in the other countries. I
estimate the Swedish vigor and innate good sense as beyond
that of other nations."

The high opinion he held of them was no less than the
high opinion they held of him. Because of the fidelity and
generosity which he had exhibited toward Sweden and Nor-
way, and his helpful service to the United Kingdoms, a
captain of the Swedish Navy wrote to him: "If there is in
heaven a special dwelling place for patriots, your place will
certainly be in the State Apartments."

He was borne to his last resting place with appropriate

424 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

honors by the cruiser Baltimore under the command of
Admiral Schley. Desiring to give expression to the cordial
and fraternal ties that united a kindred people, the Presi-
dent of the United States caused to be issued the following
order :

"In recognition of this feeling and of the debt that we owe
to Sweden for the gift of Ericsson, whose genius rendered
us the highest service in a moment of grave peril and anxi-
ety, it is directed that at this other moment, when we give
back his body to his native country, the flag of Sweden
shall be saluted by the squadron."

Crowned with honor by the land of his birth and the
land of his adoption, he sleeps among the mountains he
had loved so well as a boy. But his memory abides here.

Both nations unite again to-day in dedicating another
memorial to the memory of this illustrious man. His
Royal Highness, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, and Her Royal
Highness, Crown Princess Louise, have most graciously
come from Sweden to be present on this occasion and join
with us in paying tribute to a patriot who belongs to two
countries. It is significant that as Ericsson when he was
a young soldier had the friendship and favor of the Crown
Prince of that day, so his memory has the marked honor
of the Crown Prince of to-day.

This memorial by which we rededicate America to the
spirit which Ericsson represented stands most fittingly by
the bank of the river on which floated the first craft
with which he undertook to benefit this Government, in the
shadow of the majestic temple which has been reared to the
fame of the immortal Lincoln, whose cause he served, and
within sight of the lofty monument that recalls the name
of Washington, whose country he helped to save. As the
ceaseless throng of our citizens of various races shall come
and go, as they enter and leave our Capital City in the years
to come, as they look upon their monuments and upon his

JOHN ERICSSON 425

and recall that though he and they differed in blood and
race they were yet bound together by the tie that surpasses
race and blood in the communion of a common spirit, and
as they pause and contemplate that communion, may they
not fail to say in their hearts, "Of such is the greatness of
America."

XXXVII

It is one of the glories of our country that so
long as we remain faithful to the cause of justice
and truth and liberty, this action will continue.
We have waged no wars to determine a succes-
sion, establish a dynasty, or glorify a reigning
house. Our military operations have been for
the service of the cause of humanity. The
principles on which they have been fought have
more and more come to be accepted as the ulti-
mate standards of the world. They have been
of an enduring substance, which is not weakened
but only strengthened by the passage of time
and the contemplation of reason.

WAYS TO PEACE

Fellow Americans:

This Nation approaches no ceremony with such universal
sanction as that which is held in commemoration over the
graves of those who have performed military duty. In our
respect for the living and our reverence for the dead, in the
unbounded treasure which we have poured out in bounties,
in the continual requiem services which we have held,
America at least has demonstrated that republics are not
ungrateful. It is one of the glories of our country that so
long as we remain faithful to the cause of justice and truth
and liberty, this action will continue. We have waged no
wars to determine a succession, establish a dynasty, or
glorify a reigning house. Our military operations have
been for the service of the cause of humanity. The princi-
ples on which they have been fought have more and more
come to be accepted as the ultimate standards of the world.
They have been of an enduring substance, which is not
weakened but only strengthened by the passage of time and
the contemplation of reason.

Our experience in that respect ought not to lead us too
hastily to assume that we have been therefore better than
other people, but certainly we have been more fortunate.
We came on the stage at a later time, so that this country
had presented to it, already attained, a civilization that
other countries had secured only as a result of a long and
painful struggle. Of the various races of which we are
composed, substantially all have a history for making war-
fare which is oftentimes hard to justify, as they have come
up through various degrees of development. They bore

At Arlington M&y 31, 1926.

429

430 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

this burden in ages past in order that this country might
be freed from it. Under the circumstances it behooves us
to look on their record of advance through great difficulties
with much compassion and be thankful that we have been
spared from a like experience, and out of our compassion
and our thankfulness constantly to remember that because
of greater advantages and opportunities we are charged with
superior duties and obligations. Perhaps no country on
earth has greater responsibilities than America.

Notwithstanding all the honor which this country has
bestowed upon the living and all the reverence that has
marked its attitude toward the dead who have served us in
a military capacity, we are not a warlike Nation. As a
people we have not sought military glory. Because of our
fortunate circumstances, such wars as we have waged have
been for the purpose of securing conditions under which
peace would be more permanent, liberty would be more
secure, and justice would be more certain. It was this
principle that peculiarly characterized the forces who ac-
knowledged as their commander in chief Abraham Lincoln.

While this day was legally established many years ago
as an occasion to be devoted to the memory of our country's
dead, it can not but each year refresh the sentiment of re-
spect and honor in which our country holds their living
comrades. Of those great armies that maintained the long
struggle from 1861 to 1865, which ranked in size with any
the world had ever before seen, but a few shattered ranks
now remain. The old valor yet lives. The old devotion to
country, the old loyalty to the flag remain: But the youth
and physical vigor which caused them to be characterized
as the boys in blue are gone from these heroes of a former
generation.

But the spirit which they so nobly represented twd
generations ago has not departed from the land. It was
resurgent in the days of 1898 and in 1917, and finds a

uwi

WAYS TO PEACE 431

lineal succession in the three branches which make up the
land and sea forces of the present day and in the public
opinion of the people. Our country has never had a better-
equipped Army or a more efficient Navy in time of peace
than it has at the present time. The Air Service is being
perfected, better quarters are being provided, and our whole
Military Establishment is being made worthy of the power
and dignity of this great Nation. We realize that national
security and national defense can not be safely neglected.
To do so is to put in peril our domestic tranquillity and
jeopardize our respect and standing among the other
nations.

Yet the American forces are distinctly the forces of
peace. They are the guaranties of that order and tranquil-
lity in this part of the world, which is alike beneficial to
us and all the other nations. Every one knows that we
covet no territory, we entertain no imperialistic designs,
we harbor no enmity toward any other people. We seek
no revenge, we nurse no grievances, we have inflicted no
injuries, and we fear no enemies. Our ways are the ways
of peace.

We are attempting to make our contribution to the peace
of the world, not in any sensational or spectacular way but
by the application of practical, workable, seasoned methods
and an appeal to the common sense of mankind. We do
not rely upon the threat of force in our international rela-
tions or in our attempt to maintain our position in the
world. We have seen force tried, but the more people study
its results the more they must be convinced that on the
whole it has failed. Conditions sometimes arise where it
seems that an appeal to arms is inevitable, but such con-
flicts decide very little. In the end it is necessary to make
an appeal to reason, and until adjustments are reached by
covenants which harmonize with the prevailing sense of
justice a final solution has not been found.

432 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

Ever since the last great conflict the world has been put-
ting a renewed emphasis, not on preparation to succeed in
war, but on an attempt by preventing war to succeed in
peace. This movement has the full and complete appro-
bation of the American Government and the American
people. While we have been unwilling to interfere in the
political relationship of other countries and have consistently
refrained from intervening except when our help has been
sought and we have felt that it could be effectively given,
we have signified our willingness to become associated with
other nations in a practical plan for promoting international
justice through the World Court. Such a tribunal furnishes
a method of the adjustment of international differences in
accordance with our treaty rights and under the generally
accepted rules of international law. When questions arise
which all parties agree ought to be adjudicated but which
do not yield to the ordinary methods of diplomacy, here is
a forum to which the parties may voluntarily repair in the
consciousness that their dignity suffers no diminution and
that their cause will be determined impartially, according
to the law and the evidence. That is a sensible, direct,
efficient, and practical method of adjusting differences
which can not fail to appeal to the intelligence of the
American people.

But while we put our trust not on force but on a reign of
law and the administration of justice, yet we know that the
maintenance of peace can not but to a large extent be de-
pendent upon our sentiments and desires,. In spite of all
the treaties we may make and all the tribunals we may
establish, unless we maintain a public opinion devoted to
peace we can not escape the ravages of war. A determina-
tion to do right will be more effective than all our treaties
and courts, all our armies and fleets. A peaceful people will
have peace, but a warlike people can not escape war.

Peace has an economic foundation to which too little

WAYS TO PEACE 433

attention has been given. No student can doubt that it was
to a large extent the economic condition of Europe that
drove those overburdened countries headlong into the
World War. They were engaged in maintaining competi-
tive armaments. If one country laid the keel of one war-
ship, some other country considered it necessary to lay the
keel of two warships. If one country enrolled a regiment,
some other country enrolled three regiments. Whole
peoples were armed and drilled and trained to the detri-
ment of their industrial life, and charged and taxed and
assessed until the burden could no longer be borne. Nations
cracked under the load and sought relief from the intoler-
able pressure by pillaging each other. It was to avoid a
repetition of such a catastrophe that our Government pro-
posed and brought to a successful conclusion the Washing-
ton Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armaments.
We have been altogether desirous of an extension of this
principle and for that purpose have sent our delegates to a
preliminary conference of nations now sitting at Geneva.
Out of that conference we expect some practical results.
We believe that other nations ought to join with us in lay-
ing aside their suspicions and hatreds sufficiently to agree
among themselves upon methods of mutual relief from the
necessity of the maintenance of great land and sea forces.
This can not be done if we constantly have in mind the
resort to war for the redress of wrongs and the enforce-
ment of rights. Europe has the League of Nations. That
ought to be able to provide those countries with certain
political guaranties which our country does not require.
Besides this there is the World Court, which can certainly
be used for the determination of all justiciable disputes.
We should not underestimate the difficulties of European
nations, nor fail to extend to them the highest degree of
patience and the most sympathetic consideration. But we
can not fail to assert our conviction that they are in great

434 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

need of further limitation of armaments and our deter-
mination to lend them every assistance in the solution of
their problems. We have entered the conference with the
utmost good faith on our part and in the sincere belief that
it represents the utmost good faith on their part. We want
to see the problems that are there presented stripped of
all technicalities and met and solved in a way that will se-
cure practical results. We stand ready to give our support
to every effort that is made in that direction.

While we are thus desirous of the economic welfare of
other countries in part because of its relation to world peace,
we ought to remember that our own Government owes a
great duty to the American people in this direction. It is
for this reason in part that I have insisted upon a policy
of constructive economy in the national administration. If
we can make the circumstances of the people easy, if we
can relieve them of the burden of heavy taxation, we shall
have contributed to that contentment and peace of mind
which will go far to render them immune from any envious
inclination toward other countries. If the people prosper
in their business, they will be the less likely to resort to the
irritating methods of competition in foreign trade out of
which arise mutual misunderstandings and animosities.
They will not be driven to the employment of sharp prac-
tices in order to support and maintain their own position.
Being amply supplied with their own resources, they will not
be so inclined to turn covetous eyes toward the resources
of other nations.

Such a condition will likewise give opportunity to devote
our surplus wealth, not to the payment of high taxes, but
to the financing of the needs of other nations. Our country
has already through private sources recognized the require-
ments in this direction and has made large advances to for-
eign governments and foreign enterprises for the purpose of
reestablishing their public credit and their private industry.

WAYS TO PEACE 435

By such action we have not only discharged an obligation
to humanity, but have likewise profited in our trade rela-
tions and established a community of interests which can
not but be an added security for the maintenance of peace.
In so far as we can confirm other people in the possession
of profitable industry, without injuring ourselves, we shall
have removed from them that economic pressure productive
of those dissensions, discords, and hostilities which are a
fruitful source of war.

It has been in accordance with these principles that we
have made generous settlements of our foreign debts. The
little sentiment of "live and let live" expresses a great
truth. It has been thought wise to extend the payment of
our debts over a long period of years, with a very low rate
of interest, in order to relieve foreign peoples of the burden
of economic pressure beyond their capacity to bear. An
adjustment has now been made of all these major obliga-
tions, and they have all but one been mutually ratified.
The moral principle of the payment of international debts
has been preserved. Every dollar that we have advanced
to these countries they have promised to repay with some
interest. Our National Treasury is not in the banking
business. We did not make these loans as a banking enter-
prise. We made them to a very large extent as an inci-
dent to the prosecution of the war. We have not sought
to adjust them on a purely banking basis. We have taken
into consideration all the circumstances and the elements
that attended the original transaction and all the results
that will probably flow from their settlement. They have
been liquidated on this broad moral and humanitarian
basis. We believe that the adjustments which have been
made will be mutually beneficial to the trade relations of
the countries involved and that out of these economic
benefits there will be derived additional guaranties to the
stability and peace of the world.

436 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

But if we are to maintain our position of understanding
and good will with the nations abroad, we must continue
to maintain the same sentiments at home. We are situated
differently in this respect from any other country. All the
other great powers have a comparatively homogeneous
population, close kindred in race and blood and speech, and
commonly little divided in religious beliefs. Our great Na-
tion is made up of the strong and virile pioneering stock of
nearly all the countries of the world. We have a variety
of race and language and religious belief. If any of these
different peoples fall into disfavor among us, there comes
a quick reaction against the rest of us from the relatives
and friends in their place of origin which affects the public
sentiment of that country, even though it may not be actu-
ally expressed in the official actions of their Government.
Such misunderstandings interfere with our friendly rela-
tions, are harmful to our trade, and retard the general prog-
ress of civilization. We all subscribe to the principle of
religious liberty and toleration and equality of rights. This
principle is in accordance with the fundamental law of the
land. It is the very spirit of the American Constitution.
We all recognize and admit that it ought to be put into prac-
tical operation. We know that every argument of right and
reason requires such action. Yet in time of stress and
public agitation we have too great a tendency to disregard
this policy and indulge in race hatred, religious intolerance,
and disregard of equal rights. Such sentiments are bound
to react upon those who harbor them. Instead of being a
benefit they are a positive injury. We do not have to ex-
amine history very far before we see whole countries that
have been blighted, whole civilizations that have been shat-
tered by a spirit of intolerance. They are destructive of
order and progress at home and a danger to peace and good
will abroad. No better example exists of toleration than
that which is exhibited by those who wore the blue toward

WAYS TO PEACE 437

those who wore the gray. Our condition to-day is not
merely that of one people under one flag, but of a thor-
oughly united people who have seen bitterness and enmity
which once threatened to sever them pass away, and a
spirit of kindness and good will reign over them all.

The success with which we have met in all of these un-
dertakings is a matter of universal knowledge. We are at
peace with all the world. Those of this generation who
passed through the World War have had an experience
which will always cause them to realize what an infinite
blessing peace is. We are in an era of unbounded pros-
perity. The financial condition of our National Govern-
ment is beginning to be more easy to be borne. While
many other nations and many localities within our own
country are struggling with a burden of increased debts
and rising taxes, which makes them seek for new sources
from which by further taxation they can secure new rev-
enues, we have made large progress toward paying off our
national debt, have greatly reduced our national taxes, and
been able to relieve the people by abandoning altogether
many sources of national revenue. We are not required to
look altogether to the future for our rewards and find in
our lot nothing but sacrifices for the present. Now, here,
to-day, we are all able to enjoy those benefits which come
from universal peace and nation-wide prosperity.

As these old soldiers, the living descendants of the spirit
of Washington that made our country, go down toward the
setting sun, representing the spirit of Lincoln, who saved
our country, they will have the satisfaction of knowing that
they are leaving behind them the same spirit, still un-
daunted, still ready to maintain in the future a more abid-
ing peace and a more abounding prosperity, under which
America can continue to work for the salvation of the
world.

XXXVIII

In its main features the Declaration of Inde-
pendence is a great spiritual document. It is a
declaration not of material but of spiritual con-
ceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sover-
eignty, the rights of man — these are not elements
which we can see and touch. They are ideals.
They have their source and their roots in the re-
ligious convictions. They belong to the unseen
world. Unless the faith of the American people
in these religious convictions is to endure, the
principles of our Declaration will perish. We
can not continue to enjoy the result if we neg-
lect and abandon the cause.

THE INSPIRATION OF THE DECLARATION

We meet to celebrate the birthday of America. The
coming of a new life always excites our interest. Although
we know in the case of the individual that it has been an
infinite repetition reaching back beyond our vision, that
only makes it the more wonderful. But how our interest
and wonder increase when we behold the miracle of the
birth of a new nation. It is to pay our tribute of reverence
and respect to those who participated in such a mighty
event that we annually observe the fourth day of July.
Whatever may have been the impression created by the news
which went out from this city on that summer day in 1776,
there can be no doubt as to the estimate which is now
placed upon it. At the end of 150 years the four corners
of the earth unite in coming to Philadelphia as to a holy
shrine in grateful acknowledgement of a service so great,
which a few inspired men here rendered to humanity, that
it is still the preeminent support of free government
throughout the world.

Although a century and a half measured in comparison
with the length of human experience is but a short time,
yet measured in the life of governments and nations it
ranks as a very respectable period. Certainly enough time
has elapsed to demonstrate with a great deal of thorough-
ness the value of our institutions and their dependability
as rules for the regulation of human conduct and the ad-
vancement of civilization. They have been in existence
long enough to become very well seasoned. They have
met, and met successfully, the test of experience.

At Philadelphia, July 5, 1926, celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

441

442 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

It is not so much then for the purpose of undertaking to
proclaim new theories and principles that this annual cele-
bration is maintained, but rather to reaffirm and reestablish
those old theories and principles which time and the un-
erring logic of events have demonstrated to be sound.
Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the
welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for
solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution of the United States with the assur-
ance and confidence that those two great charters of free-
dom and justice remain firm and unshaken. Whatever
perils appear, whatever dangers threaten, the Nation re-
mains secure in the knowledge that the ultimate applica-
tion of the law of the land will provide an adequate defense
and protection.

It is little wonder that people at home and abroad con-
sider Independence Hall as hallowed ground and revere
the Liberty Bell as a sacred relic. That pile of bricks and
mortar, that mass of metal, might appear to the unin-
structed as only the outgrown meeting place and the shat-
tered bell of a former time, useless now because of more
modern conveniences, but to those who know they have
become consecrated by the use which men have made of
them. They have long been identified with a great cause.
They are the framework of a spiritual event. The world
looks upon them, because of their associations of one hun-
dred and fifty years ago, as it looks upon the Holy Land
because of what took place there nineteen hundred years
ago. Through use for a righteous purpose they have be-
come sanctified.

It is not here necessary to examine in detail the causes
which led to the American Revolution. In their immedi-
ate occasion they were largely economic. The colonists
objected to the navigation laws which interfered with their
trade, they denied the power of Parliament to impose taxes

THE DECLARATION 443

which they were obliged to pay, and they therefore resisted
the royal governors and the royal forces which were sent to
secure obedience to these laws. But the conviction is in-
escapable that a new civilization had come, a new spirit
had arisen on this side of the Atlantic more advanced and
more developed in its regard for the rights of the individual
than that which characterized the Old World. Life in a
new and open country had aspirations which could not be
realized in any subordinate position. A separate establish-
ment was ultimately inevitable. It had been decreed by
the very laws of human nature. Man everywhere has
an unconquerable desire to be the master of his own
destiny.

We are obliged to conclude that the Declaration of Inde-
pendence represented the movement of a people. It was not,
of course, a movement from the top. Revolutions do not
come from that direction. It was not without the support of
many of the most respectable people in the Colonies, who
were entitled to all the consideration that is given to breed-
ing, education, and possessions. It had the support of an-
other element of great significance and importance to which
I shall later refer. But the preponderance of all those who
occupied a position which took on the aspect of aristocracy
did not approve of the Revolution and held toward it an
attitude either of neutrality or open hostility. It was in
no sense a rising of the oppressed and downtrodden. It
brought no scum to the surface, for the reason that colonial
society had developed no scum. The great body of the
people were accustomed to privations, but they were free
from depravity. If they had poverty, it was not of the
hopeless kind that afflicts great cities, but the inspiring kind
that marks the spirit of the pioneer. The American Revo-
lution represented the informed and mature convictions of
a great mass of independent, liberty-loving, God-fearing

444 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

people who knew their rights, and possessed the courage to
dare to maintain them.

The Continental Congress was not only composed of
great men, but it represented a great people. While its
members did not fail to exercise a remarkable leadership,
they were equally observant of their representative capa-
city. They were industrious in encouraging their con-
stituents to instruct them to support independence. But
until such instructions were given they were inclined to
withhold action.

While North Carolina has the honor of first authorizing
its delegates to concur with other Colonies in declaring
independence, it was quickly followed by South Carolina
and Georgia, which also gave general instructions broad
enough to include such action. But the first instructions
which unconditionally directed its delegates to declare for
independence came from the great Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia. These were immediately followed by Rhode Island
and Massachusetts, while the other Colonies, with the ex-
ception of New York, soon adopted a like course.

This obedience of the delegates to the wishes of their con-
stituents, which in some cases caused them to modify their
previous positions, is a matter of great significance. It
reveals an orderly process of government in the first place ;
but more than that, it demonstrates that the Declaration
of Independence was the result of the seasoned and de-
liberate thought of the dominant portion of the people of
the Colonies. Adopted after long discussion and as the
result of the duly authorized expression of the preponder-
ance of public opinion, it did not partake of dark intrigue
or hidden conspiracy. It was well advised. It had about
it nothing of the lawless and disordered nature of a riotous
insurrection. It was maintained on a plane which rises
above the ordinary conception of rebellion. It was in no
sense a radical movement but took on the dignity of a

THE DECLARATION 445

resistance to illegal usurpations. It was conservative and
represented the action of the colonists to maintain their
constitutional rights which from time immemorial had been
guaranteed to them under the law of the land.

When we come to examine the action of the Continental
Congress in adopting the Declaration of Independence in
the light of what was set out in that great document and
in the light of succeeding events, we can not escape the
conclusion that it had a much broader and deeper signifi-
cance than a mere secession of territory and the establish-
ment of a new nation. Events of that nature have been
taking place since the dawn of history. One empire after
another has arisen, only to crumble away as its constitu-
ent parts separated from each other and set up independent
governments of their own. Such actions long ago became
commonplace. They have occurred too often to hold the
attention of the world and command the admiration and
reverence of humanity. There is something beyond the
establishment of a new nation, great as that event would
be, in the Declaration of Independence which has ever since
caused it to be regarded as one of the great charters that
not only was to liberate America but was everywhere to
ennoble humanity.

It was not because it was proposed to establish a new
nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation
on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be re-
garded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas
do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are
reached by a gradual development over a length of time
usually proportionate to their importance. This is espe-
cially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration
of Independence. Three very definite propositions were
set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind
and therefore of government. These were the doctrine
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with

446 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of
the just powers of government must be derived from the
consent of the governed.

If no one is to be accounted as born into a superior sta-
tion, if there is to be no ruling class, and if all possess
rights which can neither be bartered away nor taken from
them by any earthly power, it follows as a matter of course
that the practical authority of the Government has to rest
on the consent of the governed. While these principles
were not altogether new in political action, and were very
far from new in political speculation, they had never been
assembled before and declared in such a combination. But
remarkable as this may be, it is not the chief distinction of
the Declaration of Independence. The importance of poli-
tical speculation is not to be under-estimated, as I shall
presently disclose. Until the idea is developed and the
plan made there can be no action.

It was the fact that our Declaration of Independence
containing these immortal truths was the political action of
a duly authorized and constituted representative public
body in its sovereign capacity, supported by the force of
general opinion and by the armies of Washington already
in the field, which makes it the most important civil docu-
ment in the world. It was not only the principles declared,
but the fact that therewith a new nation was born which
was to be founded upon those principles and which from
that time forth in its development has actually maintained
those principles, that makes this pronouncement an incom-
parable event in the history of government. It was an
assertion that a people had arisen determined to make
every necessary sacrifice for the support of these truths
and by their practical application bring the War of Inde-
pendence to a successful conclusion and adopt the Constitu-
tion of the United States with all that it has meant to
civilization.

THE DECLARATION 447

The idea that the people have a right to choose their
own rulers was not new in political history. It was the
foundation of every popular attempt to depose an unde-
sirable king. This right was set out with a good deal of
detail by the Dutch when as early as July 26, 1581, they
declared their independence of Philip of Spain. In their
long struggle with the Stuarts the British people asserted
the same principles, which finally culminated in the Bill
of Rights deposing the last of that house and placing Wil-
liam and Mary on the throne. In each of these cases sov-
ereignty through divine right was displaced by sovereignty
through the consent of the people. Running through the
same documents, though expressed in different terms, is the
clear inference of inalienable rights. But we should search
these charters in vain for an assertion of the doctrine of
equality. This principle had not before appeared as an
official political declaration of any nation. It was pro-
foundly revolutionary. It is one of the corner stones of
American institutions.

But if these truths to which the declaration refers have
not before been adopted in their combined entirety by na-
tional authority, it is a fact that they had been long pon-
dered and often expressed in political speculation. It is
generally assumed that French thought had some effect
upon our public mind during Revolutionary days. This
may have been true. But the principles of our declaration
had been under discussion in the Colonies for nearly two
generations before the advent of the French political philo-
sophy that characterized the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury. In fact, they come from an earlier date. A very
positive echo of what the Dutch had done in 1581, and what
the English were preparing to do, appears in the assertion
of the Rev. Thomas Hooker of Connecticut as early as
1638, when he said in a sermon before the General Court
that —

448 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

"The foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of
the people.

"The choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people
by God's own allowance."

This doctrine found wide acceptance among the noncon-
formist clergy who later made up the Congregational
Church. The great apostle of this movement was the Rev.
John Wise, of Massachusetts. He was one of the leaders
of the revolt against the royal governor Andros in 1687,
for which he suffered imprisonment. He was a liberal in
ecclesiastical controversies. He appears to have been fa-
miliar with the writings of the political scientist, Samuel
Pufendorf, who was born in Saxony in 1632. Wise pub-
lished a treatise, entitled "The Church's Quarrel Espoused,"
in 1710, which was amplified in another publication in 1717.
In it he dealt with the principles of civil government. His
works were reprinted in 1772 and have been declared to
have been nothing less than a textbook of liberty for our
Revolutionary fathers.

While the written word was the foundation, it is ap-
parent that the spoken word was the vehicle for convincing
the people. This came with great force and wide range
from the successors of Hooker and Wise. It was carried
on with a missionary spirit which did not fail to reach the
Scotch-Irish of North Carolina, showing its influence by
significantly making that Colony the first to give instruc-
tions to its delegates looking to independence. This preach-
ing reached the neighborhood of Thomas Jefferson, who
acknowledged that his "best ideas of democracy" had been
secured at church meetings.

That these ideas were prevalent in Virginia is further
revealed by the Declaration of Rights, which was prepared
by George Mason and presented to the general assembly
on May 27, 1776. This document asserted popular sover-
eignty and inherent natural rights, but confined the doctrine

THE DECLARATION 449

of equality to the assertion that "All men are created equally
free and independent." It can scarcely be imagined that
Jefferson was unacquainted with what had been done in
his own Commonwealth of Virginia when he took up the
task of drafting the Declaration of Independence. But
these thoughts can very largely be traced back to what
John Wise was writing in 1710. He said, "Every man must
be acknowledged equal to every man." Again, "The end of
all good government is to cultivate humanity and promote
the happiness of all and the good of every man in all his
rights, his life, liberty, estate, honor, and so forth * * *."

And again, "For as they have a power every man in his
natural state, so upon combination they can and do bequeath
this power to others and settle it according as their united
discretion shall determine." And still again, "Democracy
is Christ's government in church and state." Here was the
doctrine of equality, popular sovereignty, and the substance
of the theory of inalienable rights clearly asserted by Wise
at the opening of the eighteenth century, just as we have
the principle of the consent of the governed stated by
Hooker as early as 1638.

When we take all these circumstances into consideration,
it is but natural that the first paragraph of the Declaration
of Independence should open with a reference to Nature's
God and should close in the final paragraphs with an
appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world and an assertion
of a firm reliance on Divine Providence. Coming from
these sources, having as it did this background, it is no
wonder that Samuel Adams could say "The people seem to
recognize this resolution as though it were a decree promul-
gated from heaven."

No one can examine this record and escape the conclu-
sion that in the great outline of its principles the Declara-
tion was the result of the religious teachings of the
preceding period. The profound philosophy which Jona-

450 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

than Edwards applied to theology, the popular preaching
of George Whitefield, had aroused the thought and stirred
the people of the Colonies in preparation for this great
event. No doubt the speculations which had been going on
in England, and especially on the Continent, lent their
influence to the general sentiment of the times. Of course,
the world is always influenced by all the experience and all
the thought of the past. But when we come to a contem-
plation of the immediate conception of the principles of
human relationship which went into the Declaration of
Independence we are not required to extend our search be-
yond our own shores. They are found in the texts, the ser-
mons, and the writings of the early colonial clergy who were
earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in
the great mystery of how to live. They preached equality
because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text
that we are all created in the divine image, all partakers
of the divine spirit.

Placing every man on a plane where he acknowledged
no superiors, where no one possessed any right to rule over
him, he must inevitably choose his own rulers through a
system of self-government. This was their theory of
democracy. In those days such doctrines would scarcely
have been permitted to flourish and spread in any other
country. This was the purpose which the fathers cherished.
In order that they might have freedom to express these
thoughts and opportunity to put them into action, whole
congregations with their pastors had migrated to the colo-
nies. These great truths were in the air that our people
breathed. Whatever else we may say of it, the Declaration
of Independence was profoundly American.

If this apprehension of the facts be correct, and the
documentary evidence would appear to verify it, then cer-
tain conclusions are bound to follow. A spring will cease to

THE DECLARATION 451

flow if its source be dried up; a tree will wither if its
roots be destroyed. In its main features the Declaration
of Independence is a great spiritual document. It is a
declaration not of material but of spiritual conceptions.
Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man —
these are not elements which we can see and touch. They
are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the
religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world.
Unless the faith of the American people in these religious
convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration
will perish. We can not continue to enjoy the result if we
neglect and abandon the cause.

We are too prone to overlook another conclusion. Gov-
ernments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.
This is both historically and logically true. Of course the
government can help to sustain ideals and can create insti-
tutions through which they can be the better observed,
but their source by their very nature is in the people. The
people have to bear their own responsibilities. There is
no method by which that burden can be shifted to the
government. It is not the enactment, but the observance
of laws, that creates the character of a nation.

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceed-
ingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made
a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new
thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great
advance over the people of that day, and that we may
therefore very well discard their conclusions for something
more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to
this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final.
If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final.
If governments derive their just powers from the consent
of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can
be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to
deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in

452 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

which he can proceed historically is not forward, but back-
ward toward the time when there was no equality, no
rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who
wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to prog-
ress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more
modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary
fathers.

In the development of its institutions America can fairly
claim that it has remained true to the principles which were
declared 150 years ago. In all the essentials we have
achieved an equality which was never possessed by any
other people. Even in the less important matter of mate-
rial possessions we have secured a wider and wider distribu-
tion of wealth. The rights of the individual are held sacred
and protected by constitutional guaranties, which even the
Government itself is bound not to violate. If there is any
one thing among us that is established beyond question, it is
self-government — the right of the people to rule. If there
is any failure in respect to any of these principles, it is
because there is a failure on the part of individuals to ob-
serve them. We hold that the duly authorized expression
of the will of the people has a divine sanction. But even
in that we come back to the theory of John Wise that "De-
mocracy is Christ's government * * *." The ultimate
sanction of law rests on the righteous authority of the Al-
mighty.

On an occasion like this a great temptation exists to pre-
sent evidence of the practical success of our form of demo-
cratic republic at home and the ever-broadening acceptance
it is securing abroad. Although these things are well
known, their frequent consideration is an encouragement
and an inspiration. But it is not results and effects so
much as sources and causes that I believe it is even more
necessary constantly to contemplate. Ours is a govern-
ment of the people. It represents their will. Its officers

THE DECLARATION 453

may sometimes go astray, but that is not a reason for criti-
cizing the principles of our institutions. The real heart of
the American Government depends upon the heart of the
people. It is from that source that we must look for all
genuine reform. It is to that cause that we must ascribe all
our results.

It was in the contemplation of these truths that the fath-
ers made their declaration and adopted their Constitution.
It was to establish a free government, which must not be
permitted to degenerate into the unrestrained authority
of a mere majority or the unbridled weight of a mere in-
fluential few. They undertook the balance these interests
against each other and provide the three separate independ-
ent branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
departments of the Government, with checks against each
other in order that neither one might encroach upon the
other. These are our guaranties of liberty. As a result
of these methods enterprise has been duly protected from
confiscation, the people have been free from oppression,
and there has been an ever-broadening and deepening of the
humanities of life.

Under a system of popular government there will always
be those who will seek for political preferment by clamor-
ing for reform. While there is very little of this which is
not sincere, there is a large portion that is not well in-
formed. In my opinion very little of just criticism can at-
tach to the theories and principles of our institutions.
There is far more danger of harm than there is hope of good
in any radical changes. We do need a better understanding
and comprehension of them and a better knowledge of the
foundations of government in general. Our forefathers
came to certain conclusions and decided upon certain
courses of action which have been a great blessing to the
world. Before we can understand their conclusions we must
go back and review the course which they followed. WTe

454 FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC

must think the thoughts which they thought. Their intel-
lectual life centered around the meeting-house. They were
intent upon religious worship. While there were always
among them men of deep learning, and later those who
had comparatively large possessions, the mind of the people
was not so much engrossd in how much they knew, or
how much they had, as in how they were going to live.
While scantily provided with other literature, there was a
wide acquaintance with the Scriptures. Over a period as
great as that which measures the existence of our independ-
ence they were subject to this discipline not only in their
religious life and educational training, but also in their
political thought. They were a people who came under
the influence of a great spiritual development and acquired
a great moral power.

No other theory is adequate to explain or comprehend
the Declaration of Independence. It is the product of the
spiritual insight of the people. We live in an age of sci-
ence and of abounding accumulation of material things.
These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration cre-
ated them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we
cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming
though it may appear, will turn to a barren sceptre in our
grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has
been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the
fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan ma-
terialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had
for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual
and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep
replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling
flame, the altar fires before which they worshipped.

INDEX

Absolutism, 183, 184.

Adams, John, 54, 154, 274, 275, 306,
406.

Adams, Samuel, 403, 404; quoted,
449.

Africa, 32.

Aggrandizement, military, 24.

Agriculture, 203, 280-282, 335 ff.;
cooperative movement in, 347-349.

Agriculture, Department of, 348, 350.

Alarcon, Juan Ruiz de, 371.

Alvarez, Dr. Alejandro, 372.

America, national unity of, 15, 16,
22, 23, 26, 250, 409; early begin-
nings of, 54-56; services of, to
Europe, 99, 100, 144, 163-165; 193,
197-199, 300, 327 ff.; variety of
racial elements in, 159 ff ., 250, 297,
436 ; reasons for migration to, 161 ;
spiritual unification in, 209 ff.; the
melting pot, 250; contribution of,
to financial stability of the world,
328, 329, 435.

American Expeditionary Forces,
First Division of, 135 ff.; war rec-
ord of, 136-138.

American ideals, 53-55, 77, 83, 85,
96-98, 108-112, 142, 194-196, 205,
300, 331, 454.

American Legion, the, 287 ff., 390.

American principles, 51 ff ., 67 ff., 97,
98, 106 ff., 144, 145, 175, 204, 231,
260, 293, 306, 309, 380, 436, 447,
452, 453.

Americanism, 194, 195, 298-301, 415.

Amundsen, 252.

Anarchy, 110.

Anderson, Colonel Henry W., 402.

Andros, 448.

Anniversaries, commemoration of,
249.

Antaeus, the Giant, 67.

Appropriations Committees, the, 46.

Arbitration, international, 24-26,
196, 432; voluntary and compul-
sory labor, 81.

Argentina, 305, 308, 369.

Arlington National Cemetery, 16,
19, 221, 429.

Armaments, Conference for Limita-
tion of, 77, 357, 433.

Armaments, limitation of, 24, 196,
241, 243, 292, 293, 433; competi-
tive, 292, 433.

Armenia, 329.

Army, maintenance of an adequate,
24, 84.

Army, United States, 291.

Arnett, Hannah, 378.

Artigas, 306.

Asbury, Bishop Francis, 149 ff.

"Association, The," 118, 119.

Atheists, 68.

Athletics, 7, 9.

Australia, 326, 385.

Austria, 99, 327, 329.

Authority, 106, 107.

Baden-Powell, Sir Robert, 390.

Baltimore, the, 424.

Baseball, 9; professional, 131; the

Washington Team, 129 ff.
Belgium, 328.
Bello, Andres, 370.
Bible, the, in the Colonies, 212, 213,

218, 454.
Bilac, Olavo, 370.
Bill of Rights, British, 447.
Blake, Tiany, 153.
Bolivar, 306.
Boston port till, the, 272.

455

456

INDEX

Box board workers, 78.

Boy Scouts, 67 ff., 389 ff.

Boyle, Robert, 407.

Braddock, General, 270, 275.

Brazil, 369.

Bricklayers, European, 80.

Brotherhood of man, 108, 109, 143,
195, 198, 248, 250, 300, 305,
450.

Budgets, 169 ff.; the system of, 39,
41 ff., 46, 358.

Bullard, Robert L., 138.

Bunker Hill, Battle of, 275.

Bureau of the Budget, 46, 47.

Bureau of Education, 61.

Bureaucracy, 410, 411.

Burgesses, House of, 403.

Burglaries, 230.

Burke, 118.

Burns, Robert, 105, quoted, 106.

Bush, Matthias, 214.

Business, and government, 39 ff., 317
ff., 355 ff.; and human progress,
56; and the press, 187.

Business Cycle, Conference on, 77.

Business Organization of the Gov-
ernment, the, 39 ff., 355 ff.

Canada, voting in, 335.
Cantigny, attack on, 136, 137.
Carr, General, 16.
Chamber of Commerce, New York,

317, 320.
Character, 75, 85, 247, 356, 393.
Charity, 109; and the budget plan,

170, 171.
Chatham, Lord, 276, 277.
Cheap men, 84.
Child life. Constitutional protection

to, 62, 81.
Christianity and the Negro, 31.
"Church's Quarrel Espoused, The,"

448.
Cities, and government, 317.
Citizens, foreign-born, 159 ff.
Citizenship, 21, 23, 27, 35, 58, 59,

107, 175 ff., 238, 336, 380 ff.
Civil War, the, 15, 19 ff., 26, 139,

222-226, 233, 419, 421 ff., 430.

Civilization, and sports, 9; restric-
tions of modern, 22, 23; American,
39.

Clay, Henry, 307.

Clergy, early colonial, 448-450.

Colonies, the thirteen original, 20,
115 ff., 210 ff., 257, 258, 271-276,
307, 403 ff., 443 ff.

Columbus, 251.

Commerce, and government, 317 ff.

Commerce, Department of, 324, 326,
372.

Communism, 109.

"Community Chest." the, 170, 171.

Confederate Memorial, 15 ff.

Congregational Church, the, 448.

Congress, the United States, 94, 95,
107, 122, 204; Continental, 115 ff.,
272-275, 444, 445.

Congress, the, 421.

Conservation, 200-203, 324, 325.

Constitution, the American, 19, 21,
40, 52, 53, 55, 62, 71, 72, 76, 90,
92 ff., 107-109, 115, 116, 120-122,
139, 142, 151, 179, 202, 203, 224,
225, 233, 244, 436, 442, 416,
453.

Constitutional Convention of 1787,
the, 280.

Contentment, 154.

Continental Army, Washington in
command of, 270, 272, 274, 275,
277.

Continental Congress, the, 115 ff.,
272-275, 444, 445.

Coordination in Federal service, 39,
45.

Cornwallis, Lord, 278, 378.

Cotton manufacturies, 79, 80.

Court of International Justice, Per-
manent, 25, 331, 358.

Court, World, 432, 433.

Courts, power of the, 93-97; pro-
tection of, 122.

Crime, in America, 229, 230.

Criticism, 111, 453.

Cromwell, Oliver, 15.

Cruz, Dr. Oswaldo, 371.

Cumberland, the, 421.

Czechoslovakia, 328.

INDEX

457

Dahlgren, Rear Admiral, 419, 422.

Dario, Ruben, 370.

Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, 377 ff.

Davenport, John, 212, 213.

Davis, Secretary, 78.

Dawes, General, 358; reparations
plan of, 98, 144.

Debt, the public, 42, 44, 46, 357;
reduction of, 360.

Debts, settlement of foreign, 329,
330, 434.

Declaration of Independence, 53, 55,
63, 107, 115, 150, 403, 418, 441 ff.

Declaration of Rights, Virginia, 448.

Deflation, 82, 291, 340.

De Kalb, Baron, 214.

De La Motta, Captain, 214.

De Leon, Captain Jacob, 214.

Democracy, ideal of, 449, 452-454.

Despotism, 203, 289.

Dewey, Admiral, 244.

Dinwiddie, Governor, 268.

Disarmament, 85, 144; treaties, 98.

Discipline, 105, 106, 110, 295.

Drago, Dr. Luis, 372.

Drain, Commander, 290.

Dunmore, Lord, 404.

Eaton, Theophilus, 212.

Economics, teaching of, 58.

Economy in government expendi-
tures, 39 ff., 200-203, 291, 323, 325;
constructive, 355 ff., 434.

Education, 7, 81; in recreation, 10,
11; of the Negro, 33, 34; popular,
and government, 54 ff.; money ex-
pended for, 57; numbers con-
cerned in, 57; the handmaid of
citizenship, 58, 59; of adults, 59,
60 ; State support of, 61 ; and the
National Government, 61; new
importance attaching to, 62; uni-
versal free, 161 ; Jewish, 170 ;
political, 176; in a republic, 183,
184; in South America, 372;
Swedish, 417, 418.

Education and Relief, Department
of, 61, 62.

Education Association, National, 51.

Education, Bureau of, 61.

Edwards, Jonathan, 150, 450.

Election Day, 175 ff., 382.

Emergency fund, 361.

Employment, principles of, private,
81, 82.

Enright, Thomas F., 136.

Equality, 108, 109, 258, 416, 436,
449, 450.

Ericsson, John, 415, 419 ff.

Estimates, expense, submitted to
Congress, 46.

Europe, wage earners of, 80, 83;
America's service to, 99, 100, 144,
163-165, 193, 197-199, 300, 327 ff.;
conflicts of races and civilizations
in, 160; motives for migrations
from, 257 ff.; democratic evolution
of, 259; saved by American re-
sources, 327 ff.; competitive arma-
ments of, 433.

Executive, Chief, and legislature, 94-
96, 122.

Expenditures and receipts, Federal,
under Budget system, 41 ff.

Faith, 68; international, 242, 243.
Family life, 393.
Farm Bureau Federation, 335.
Farm, population, 341 ; prices, 342-

344, 349, 350; loan and credit

banks, 347.
Farmers, 335 ff. ; tariff protection for,

344 ff.; loans to, 347.
Farming, 335 ff.; and the tariff,

344 ff. ; the cooperative movement

in, 347-349.
Fiske, John, 403.
Fishing and hunting, 8.
Football, 9.

Force, and reason, 331.
Foreign-born citizens, 159 ff.
Forest reservations, 9.
Fort Necessity, 270.
Fourth of July, 51, 441, 445.
France, 99, 100, 210, 269, 328, 329.
Franklin, Benjamin, 54, 116, 120,

306, 418.
Franks, David and Isaac, 214.
Federal Reserve System, 82.

458

INDEX

Federal and State sovereignty,

223 ff.
Federalist, the, 227.
Frederick the Great, 278.
Free trade, 84.
Freedom, individual, 19 ff., 39-41, 53,

54, 92 ff., 97, 121, 202, 230, 362,

436, 447 ff.
French and Indian War, the, 115,

210, 258, 269, 276, 308.

Gage, General, 276.

Games, exhibition, 9.

Gardening, 8.

Gardner, Charles F., letter to, 71.

George III, 117, 118, 281.

Germany, 99, 100, 144, 327, 385.

Gladiators, Roman, 10.

Glass, Senator, 402.

Goldsmith, Oliver, quoted, 188.

Government, and individual free-
dom, 19 ff.; support and mainte-
nance of, 22, 23 ; economy in, 39 ff.,
291, 355, 434; the Budget system
and, 46; and education, 54 ff.; by
the people, 58, 122, 123, 175 ff.,
293; and national development,
56; and labor, 76 ff.; taxes and
cost of, 84; executive and legisla-
tive branches of, 94-96, 122; ideal
of American, 106 ff . ; and rights of
the people, 121 ; ownership, 123,
124, 142; and religion, 149 ff.,
153 ff.; by political parties, 199,
200; dual sovereignty theory of,
223 ff.; local self-, 231; and busi-
ness, 317 ff., 355 ff.; control of
farm prices by, 343, 349; by con-
sent of the governed, 447 ff.,
451 ff.

Grant, Ulysses S., 16.

Gratz, Bernard and Michael, 214.

Great Britain, 20, 99, 269, 328, 447;
wage earners of, 80; and the
Colonies, 118 ff., 271, 276, 403 ff.;
the non-intercourse agreement
with, 118, 119; crime in, 229, 230;
voting in, 385.

Greater University of St. Mark, 368.

Greatness, 416.

Greece, 329; athletic games of, 9.
Grenville, Lord, 282.
Gresham, Corporal James B., 136.
Gustaf Adolf, Prince, 424.
Gustavus, Adolphus, 417.
Gustavus III, 418.

Hague tribunal, The, 24.

Hamilton, Alexander, 54, 306.

Hanks, Nancy, 154.

Hannibal, 308.

Hanson, John, 418.

Harding, Warren G., 25, 78.

Harris, Manager, 131.

Harrison, Carter Henry, 404.

Harvard, University, 367, 407.

Hay, Merle D., 136.

Henry, Patrick, 402-405, 409.

Hercules, 67.

Heredia, Jose Maria, 370.

Hidalgo, 306.

Hill, James J., 340.

Hines, General, 290.

History, 251.

Hoar, Senator, 407.

Holy Name Society, 103 ff.

Home, the farm, 337; influence ol

the, 393.
Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 447-449.
Houghton, Ambassador, 242.
House of Representatives, the, 40,

94.
Howard University, 31 ff.
Human nature, constancy of, 194,

300, 389.
Hunting and fishing, 8.
Hyphen, the, 100.

Iceland, 252.

Idealism, American, 111, 186, 187,
189, 190, 201/

Ignorance, menace of, 54, 60, 62.

Illiterates, foreign-born and native,
60.

Immigration, 159 ff.; restrictive, 62,
83, 84, 111, 162, 203; from Scan-
dinavia, 248, 252 ff . ; motives an-
imating 255 ff . ; pre-Revolutionary,
255, 257; from Norway, 259 ff.;
Swedish, 417.

INDEX

459

Imperialism, 94.

Imports, protection of farmer in,

344.
Income tax, the, 294.
Independence, American, 19 ff., 97,

98, 143, 305 ff., 408, 444.
Independence Day, 51.
Independence Hall, 442.
Indian wars, 159.
Individual, rights of the, 19 ff., 39-

41, 53, 54, 92 ff., 97, 108, 109, 121,

202, 362, 436, 447 ff.
Industry, American ideal in, 81-83.
Intermittent Employment in Con-
struction Industries, Conference

on, 77.
International arbitration, 24-26, 196,

432.
International justice, 331, 358, 432.
Intolerence, 295, 296, 436.
Iron and steel industries, 78, 79.
Isaacs, Jorge, 370.
Italy, 328, 385.

Jackson, 154.

Jacobs, Benjamin and Joseph, 214.

Jamestown, 401.

Japan, 326.

Jefferson, Thomas, 54, 154, 211, 214,
306, 402, 403, 448.

Jewish Community Center, 209, 215,
217.

Jewish Philanthropic Societies, Fed-
eration of, 169 ff .

Jews, in the colonies, 213-215 ; in the
Revolution, 214; as American citi-
zens, 215-218.

Johnson, Dr. Amandus, 419.

Johnson, Walter, 130.

Journalism, 184 ff.

Journalists, Pan-American Confer-
ence of, 365 ff.

Justice, international, 331, 358, 408,
432.

"King's Peace, the," 239.

Labor, 7; American policy in, 76 ff.;
shortening of hours of, 78, 79;
organized, 81 ff.; ideals of, 85.

Labor Day, 75.

Labor, Department of, 78.

Lacerda, 371.

Lafayette, 89-91, 97-100, 136.

Land ownership, 338.

Law, obedience, 67, 203, 397, 451;
authority of, 110; enforcement,
226, 229-232.

Leaders, great American, 54, 55.

League of Nations, the, 24, 433.

Lecky, quoted, 212.

Lee, Richard Henry, 402, 404, 406.

Lee, Robert E., 15, 16.

Legislation, and national develop-
ment, 56.

Legislature and the Chief Executive,
94-96.

Lenroot, Senator Irvine L., 419.

Levy, Benjamin and Samson, 214.

Levy, Hayman, Jr., 214.

Liberalism, 258, 295.

Liberia, 329.

Liberty Bell, the, 442.

Liberty, individual, 106-109; under
the Constitution, 93-97, 109, 121,
122, 142; the only path toward,
108; American ideal of, 110.

Lief, New World discovered by, 251.

Lincoln, Abraham, 15, 19, 27, 62,
112, 139, 154, 233, 247, 338, 371,
402, 419, 420, 424, 430, 437.

Lind, Jenny, 419.

Living, cost of, 79 ff.

Loans, foreign, 326 ff., 357, 360, 435;
farm, 347.

Lord, General, 47, 358, 362.

Louisiana Purchase, the, 211.

Louise, Princess, 424.

Luce, Admiral, 421.

Lyon, Samuel, 214.

Mackenna, Benjamin Vicuna, 370.

Madison, James, 54, 214, 402, 405.

Majorities, 95, 177.

Mann, Horace, 371.

Marshall, Chief Justice, 54, 55, 275,

402, 404, 408; quoted, 223.
Mason, George, 54, 402, 405, 448.
Materialism, 454.
Mathematics, 52.

460

INDEX

Mayflower, the, 252, 253.

Mayhew, Jonathan, 404, 408.

McGlachlin, Edward F., 138.

McKinley, President, 84.

Memorial Day, 15, 19, 221, 233, 429.

Merrimac, the, 421, 422.

Methodist Society, the, 152.

Migrations, motives for great, 256,
257.

Militarism, 24, 293.

Military Establishment, U. S., ex-
penditure for, 291-293.

Military force, and security, 195,
237 ff., 243, 291.

Military power and civil authority,
293. '

Miller, John F., 130.

Minnesota, the, 421.

Minority rule, 410.

Miranda, 306.

Mississippi Valley, the, 211.

Mobilization, 294.

Monitor, the, 421-423.

Monoply, 319, 321.

Monroe Doctrine, 97, 194.

Morazan, 306.

Mordecai, Moses, 214.

Morris, Robert, 214.

Morten (or Mortenson), John, 418.

Moses, Isaac, 213.

Mount Vernon, 279.

Murders in America, 229.

Napoleon, 90, 211, 269, 308.

National Education Association, 51.

National Guard, the, 291.

Nature, reverence for, 67.

Naval Academy, United States, 237.

Navigators, first deep-sea, 251.

Navy, maintenance of an adequate,
24, 84; limitation of, 196; an in-
strument of peace, 241 ff. ; United
States, 291.

Negro, in America, 31 ff ., progress
of, 33; education of, 34; war
service of, 34, 35, 71 ; as nominee
for Congress, 71, 72.

Nelson, Thomas, 405.

New York City, 317, 318.

News, art of presenting, 185, 186.

Newspaper Editors, American So-
ciety of, 183.

Newspapers, representative of Am-
erican idealism, 186, 189, 190;
business and editorial policies of,
186, 187; South American, 366,
373, 374.

Nicaragua, 329.

Nilsson, Christina, 419.

Noah, Manuel Mordecai, 214.

Nones, Major Benjamin, 214.

Non-importation resolution of 1765,
213, 403.

Norfolk, 404.

Norsemen, the, 251 ff .

North, Lord, 276.

Norway, emigration from, 248, 252
ff, 259 ff.

Norwegian Centennial Celebration,
247 ff.

Obedience, 101. 106, 108, 203, 238.

Office holders, 77.

O'Higgins, 306.

Oligarchy, 318.

Olmedo, Jose Joaquin, 370.

Olson, Captain Lars, 254.

Opportunity, equality of, 81, 319;
416.

Organized society, 21, 22.

Otis, James, 404.

Outdoor Recreation, National Con-
ference on, 7ff.

Outlaws, 397.

Ownership, public, 123, 124, 142, 200.

Paintings and photographs, 185.

Palma, Ricardo, 370.

Pan-American Conference, first, 311;
fifth, 365.

Pan-American Congress of Journal-
ists, 365 ff.

Pan-American Union, the, 367.

Paris, Grand Parade of July 4th in,
136.

Parker, Frank, 138.

Parks and playgrounds, 8, 9.

Party government, 199, 200.

Past and present, 251.

Patriotism, 27, 58, 294, 297, 298.

Patriots' Day, 377.

INDEX

461

Payroll, the Government, 45, 360.

Peace, American ideal of, 24, 59,
195-198, 238 ff., 430 ff.; industrial,
82; and progress, 84, 143, 144,
294; South American, 310-312;
economic foundation of, 432 ff .

Pendleton, Edmund, 404.

Pensions, war, 139-141.

Pershing, General, 136, 137; quoted,
138.

Peza, Juan de Dios, 370.

Philip, King, 159.

Philip of Spain, 447.

Photographs and paintings, 185.

Pitcher, Molly, 378.

Pitt, 118.

Playgrounds, 8, 9.

Poland, 328.

Political, relationship, 52; parties,
199, 200.

Polo, 9.

Press, freedom of the, 183 ff., 189,
365 ff.; in control of great wealth,
187-189.

Prices, and wages, 79 ff.; decline in,
326; farm, 342-344, 349, 350.

Princeton, the, 420.

Printing, Government, 45; in South
America, 368.

Privilege, business, 319, 321.

Progress, and variety, 296; depend-
ent upon peace, 143, 144.

Prohibition, 226.

Propaganda, 184, 185.

Property, rights of, 108, 109, 322;
public ownership of, 123, 124, 200;
owners of, 202.

Prosperity, American, 321, 323-326,
330, 351, 360, 437.

Protestant Reformation, 417.

Public opinion, 175, 411.

Public improvements, division of ex-
pense for, 229.

Public interest, 396, 397.

Public service, 26, 27, 39, 41, 43.

Pueyrredon, Don Juan Martin, 307.

Pufendorf, Samuel, 448.

Randolph, 402.

Receipts and expenditures, Federal,
41 ff.

Recreation, outdoor, 7 ff.

Red Cross, the, 390.

Reformation, Protestant, 417.

Reforms, social, 153.

Religion, 68, 107; tolerance in, 109,
296, 297, 436; of immigrants, 163,
164; and government, 149 ff.,
153 ff.; and social reform, 153; in
the colonies, 211-213; influence of,
393; and the Declaration of In-
dependence, 449-454.

Renunciation, 23, 26.

Reparations, Dawes plan for settle-
ment of, 98, 144.

Republic, the American, 121 ; and
religion, 149 ff . ; education in a,
183, 184.

Reserve Corps, United States, 291.

Reserve System, Federal, 82.

Restaurationen, voyage of the, 252-
255.

Reverence, 104, 110, 111, 394, 454.

Revolution, American, 92, 120, 121,
139, 150, 152, 209-211, 214, 248,
254, 258, 265-271, 275 ff., 368, 377,
378, 403 ff., 418, 442, 443.

Revolution, French, 89, 90, 269.

Right, the desire to do, 242.

Rights, individual, 19 ff., 39-41, 53,
54, 92 ff., 97, 108, 109, 121, 202,
362, 436, 447 ff.

Roanoke, the, 421.

Rodo, Jose Enrique, 370.

Rodrigues, 371.

Rome, gladiatorial shows of, 10.

Roosevelt, Colonel Theodore, 138.

Roosevelt, President Theodore, 369;
quoted, 72.

Root, Elihu, quoted, 369.

Ross, Betsy, 418.

Royal and Pontifical University of
St. Paul, 368.

Rumania, 329.

Russia, 329.

Railway terminals, 326.
Raleigh Tavern, 403.

St. Clair, General, 214.
San Martin, Jose de, 305 ff.

462

INDEX

Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino, 370,
371.

Scandinavia, emigration from, 248,
252 ff.

Schley, Admiral, 424.

School, the country, 60.

Schoolhouse, the, 59.

Schools and colleges, number of stu-
dents in, 57.

Scouts, Boy, 67 ff., 389 ff.

Secretary of Labor, the, 77.

Sectionalism, 22.

Security, and military force, 238 ff.,
291.

Selective service act, a, 293.

Self-government, 76, 92, 149-151,
175 ff, 230, 231, 289.

Serfs, 338, 339.

Servitude, 55.

Sesqui-Centennial celebration, the,
209, 441.

Seven Years' War, the, 115, 210,
258, 269, 276, 308.

Shipbuilding, 420 ff.

Shipping Board, United States, 77.

Ships, armored, 420 ff.

Shoe industry, 79.

Sibert, William L, 138.

Slavery, negro, 19, 32, 224, 225, 259,
423.

Slemp, Secretary, 402.

Smith, John, 402.

Smith, Meriwether, 405.

Socialism, 109.

Social problems, 295 ff.

Social reforms and religion, 153.

Sociedad de Beneficencia, 372.

Society, organized, 21, 22.

Soisson, the victory at, 137.

Solomon, Haym, 214.

South America, 306 ff, 326; peace-
ful policy of, 310-312; statesman-
ship in, 311 ; conference of journal-
ists from, 365 ff.; development of,
369 ff. ; literature of, 370, 371 ; art
and music in, 371 ; trade with,
372, 373; newspapers of, 373, 374.

Sovereignty, Federal and State,
223 ff. ; popular, 447 ff.

Spain, 211.

Spanish War, veterans of, 139.

Specialists, 185.

Sports, democracy of, 10; value of
true, clean, 131.

Stamp Act, the, 403, 405.

States rights, 19 ff, 95, 223 ff.; and
national unit^v, 409 ff.

Statesmanship, 274; South Ameri-
can, 311.

Steel industries, 78, 79.

Steuben, Baron, 214.

Stolbrand, General, 419.

Storrow, James J, 390.

Strike, right to, 82.

Sucre, 306.

Students, number of, 57.

Summerall, Charles P., 138.

Supreme Court, United States, 93-
96.

Swanson, Senator, 402.

Sweden, 416 ff, emigrants from, 417;
treaty of commerce and amity
with, 418.

Taft, President, 390.

Tariff, protective, 83, 84, 203, 324;
and the farmer, 344 ff .

Taxation, and individual rights, 39-
41; reduction in, 43, 44, 47, 200-
203, 291, 325, 357, 358, 360, 434,
437 ; and the expense of govern-
ment, 84; State and Federal, 227,
228; for national defense, 294.

Teachers, school, 57, 59.

Toil, honest, 75 ff.

Tolerance, 161, 204, 295, 298-301,
436.

Tongue, an evil, 104.

Transportation, 203, 326; Confer-
ence on, 77. t

Travel expense, Federal, 45.

Treasuries, State and National, 229.

Tree, painting and photograph of a,
185.

Trenton-Princeton campaign, the,
278, 279, 308.

Truth and freedom, 183.

Tyler, President, 420.

Unemployment, Conference on, 77.
Union, integrity of the, 19 ff, 409 ff.

INDEX

463

Veterans, aid and relief of war, 139-

141, 290.
Veterans Act of 1924, 140.
Veterans' Bureau, 140, 290.
Virginia, 401 ff. ; Resolutions, 405 ff.;

Declaration of Rights, 448, 449.
Virginia, the, 421.
Voting, the duty of, 58, 176 ff.;

381 ff.

Wage earners, American, 78 ff., 203,
326; British and other European,
80.

Wages, increase in, 78-81, 325, 326;
and living costs, 79 ff.; equality
in, 109.

War Finance Corporation, 357.

War, World. See World War.

Warfare, modern, 289.

Warships, 420 ff.

Washington, George, 27, 54, 62, 77,
89-91, 112, 116, 139, 153, 233, 306,
308, 332, 337, 378, 402, 403, 408,
409, 424, 437, 446; quoted, 178;
greatness of, 265 ff.; in command
of Continental Army, 270-277;
biographers of, 280; standards of,
283.

Washington Baseball Team, 129 ff.

Washington, the capital, 318.

Waste, elimination of, 324-326.

Wealth, national, 58; accumulation
of, 188.

Wesley, 151.

Wheat prices, 346.

Whitefield, George, 150, 450.

Wisdom and knowledge, 237.

Wise, Rev. John, 448; quoted, 449,
452.

William and Mary College, 401,
407.

Williamsburg convention, 404 ff.

Wilson, Woodrow, 3.

Wolfe, General, 270.

Women, in industries, 81 ; the vote
of, 178, 382 ff.

Worden, Lieutenant, 422.

Work, 75 ff . ; shortening of hours of,
78, 79.

World Court, the 432, 433.

World War, the First Division,
A. E. F., in, 136 ff.; aid to vet-
erans of, 139-141, 290; causes
which drew America into, 194,
288; America in, 287 ff.; peace
more secure since, 290; patriotic
unity in, 297, 298; tolerance after,
299-301; expense of, 323; Europe
saved by American resources,
327 ff.; effect of, on agriculture
and industry, 340; and economic
condition of Europe, 433.

World War Adjusted Compensation
Act, 44.

Wrongdoing, resistance to, 103.

Yorktown campaign, the, 279, 368,

401.
Young, Arthur, 281, 282.
Yugoslavia, 329.

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